Systems and methods for automated aggregated content comment generation

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for automated aggregated content commenting are disclosed herein. Such a system can include a memory including a content database; an evaluation criteria database; and a comment database. The system can include at least one server. The at least one server can: receive a content identifier; receive a user identifier; provide a representation of the piece of content to the user; receive a comment from the user identifying a portion of the piece of content; generate a portion of the comment database linked to the user and the content; generate an entry in the portion of the comment database linked to the user and the content; and store the comment in the entry in the portion of the comment database.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional applicationSer. No. 15/719,114, filed on Sep. 28, 2017, and entitled “SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS FOR AUTOMATED AGGREGATED CONTENT COMMENT GENERATION”, which is acontinuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 15/491,888,filed on Apr. 19, 2017, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATEDAGGREGATED CONTENT COMMENT GENERATION”, the entirety of each which ishereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network thatallows computers to exchange data. In computer networks, networkedcomputing devices exchange data with each other along network links(data connections). The connections between nodes are established usingeither cable media or wireless media. The best-known computer network isthe Internet.

Network computer devices that originate, route, and terminate the dataare called network nodes. Nodes can include hosts such as personalcomputers, phones, servers as well as networking hardware. Two suchdevices can be said to be networked together when one device is able toexchange information with the other device, whether or not they have adirect connection to each other.

Computer networks differ in the transmission media used to carry theirsignals, the communications protocols to organize network traffic, thenetwork's size, topology, and organizational intent. In most cases,communications protocols are layered on (i.e. work using) other morespecific or more general communications protocols, except for thephysical layer that directly deals with the transmission media.

Notifications can be sent through a computer network. Thesenotifications can be electronic notifications and can be received viae-mail, phone, text message, or fax. Notifications have manyapplications for businesses, governments, schools, and individuals.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system for automatedaggregated content commenting. The system includes memory including: acontent database including content providable to a user; an evaluationcriteria database including at least one metric for evaluation of thecontent; and a comment database, which comment database is linked to thecontent database and to the evaluation criteria database. The system caninclude at least one server that can: receive a content identifier thatidentifies a piece of content for providing to a user; receive a useridentifier that identifies the user for receiving the piece of content;provide a representation of the piece of content to the user; receive acomment from the user identifying a portion of the piece of content;generate a portion of the comment database linked to the user and thecontent; generate an entry in the portion of the comment database linkedto the user and the content; and store the comment in the entry in theportion of the comment database.

In some embodiments, each of the links between the entry in the portionof the comment database and the user and the content is a pointer. Insome embodiments, the received comment includes at least one metricidentifier indicating a link between the received comment and the atleast one metric for evaluation of the content. In some embodiments, theat least one server can generate the entry in the portion of the commentdatabase also linked to the at least one metric for evaluation of thecontent in the evaluation criteria database.

In some embodiments, the content includes at least one of: a video file;and an audio file. In some embodiments, the comment includes a timestamp identifying a portion of the at least one of: the video file andthe audio file relevant to the comment. In some embodiments, the commentincludes a comment body including a text string generated via userinput. In some embodiments, the at least one server can launch acommenter interface. In some embodiments, the representation of thepiece of content is provided to the user via the commenter interface.

In some embodiments, the representation of the piece of content is not adownloaded version of the content. In some embodiments, the storing ofthe comment does not change the piece of content. In some embodiments,the at least one piece of content is provided streaming via thecommenter interface.

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for automatedaggregated content commenting. The method includes: receiving a contentidentifier, which content identifier identifies a piece of content forproviding to a user; receiving a user identifier at an at least oneserver from a user device, which user identifier identifies the user forreceiving the piece of content; providing a representation of the pieceof content to the user; receiving at the at least one server a commentfrom the user identifying a portion of the piece of content; generatingwith the at least one server a portion of a comment database linked tothe user and the content; generating with the at least one server anentry in the portion of the comment database linked to the user and tothe content; and storing with the at least one server the comment in theentry in the portion of the comment database.

In some embodiments, providing the representation of the piece ofcontent to the user includes providing the representation of the pieceof content to the user device. In some embodiments, providing therepresentation of the piece of content to the user device includesstreaming the piece of content to the user device. In some embodiments,each of the links between the entry in the portion of the commentdatabase and the user and the content is or includes a pointer.

In some embodiments, the received comment can include at least onemetric identifier indicating a link between the received comment and theat least one metric for evaluation of the content. In some embodiments,the entry in the portion of the comment database can be linked to the atleast one metric for evaluation of the content in the evaluationcriteria database. In some embodiments, the content includes at leastone of: a video file; an image file; and an audio file. In someembodiments, the comment includes a time stamp identifying a portion ofthe at least one of: the video file and the audio file, relevant to thecomment. In some embodiments, the method includes launching a commenterinterface. In some embodiments, the representation of the piece ofcontent is provided to the user via the commenter interface.

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of applying anevaluation. The method includes: receiving a portfolio; providing anartifact to a user; receiving a tag linking a portion of the artifact toa portion of an evaluation criterion; and applying an evaluation to theartifact generated based on the received tag.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating various embodiments, are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to necessarily limit the scope ofthe disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing illustrating an example of a contentdistribution network.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a computer server and computingenvironment within a content distribution network.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of one or more datastore servers within a content distribution network.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of one or morecontent management servers within a content distribution network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the physical and logicalcomponents of a special-purpose computer device within a contentdistribution network.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of thecommunication network.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of user device andsupervisor device communication.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process forevaluation of one or several portfolios and/or artifacts.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process forautomatic generation of independent, linked comment databases.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process forautomatically receiving and storing comments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process forproviding comments to a user such as an author of one or several piecesof content.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process fordisplaying comments.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of one embodiment of a selection view of auser interface.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of one embodiment of a commenting view of auser interface.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of one embodiment of a commenting view of auser interface including a commenting panel.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of one embodiment of a commenting view of auser interface including content tags.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides illustrative embodiment(s) only and isnot intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the illustrativeembodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment. It isunderstood that various changes can be made in the function andarrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope asset forth in the appended claims.

With reference now to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown illustratingvarious components of a content distribution network (CDN) 100 whichimplements and supports certain embodiments and features describedherein. In some embodiments, the content distribution network 100 cancomprise one or several physical components and/or one or severalvirtual components such as, for example, one or several cloud computingcomponents. In some embodiments, the content distribution network 100can comprise a mixture of physical and cloud computing components.

Content distribution network 100 may include one or more contentmanagement servers 102. As discussed below in more detail, contentmanagement servers 102 may be any desired type of server including, forexample, a rack server, a tower server, a miniature server, a bladeserver, a mini rack server, a mobile server, an ultra-dense server, asuper server, or the like, and may include various hardware components,for example, a motherboard, a processing unit, memory systems, harddrives, network interfaces, power supplies, etc. Content managementserver 102 may include one or more server farms, clusters, or any otherappropriate arrangement and/or combination or computer servers. Contentmanagement server 102 may act according to stored instructions locatedin a memory subsystem of the server 102, and may run an operatingsystem, including any commercially available server operating systemand/or any other operating systems discussed herein.

The content distribution network 100 may include one or more data storeservers 104, such as database servers and file-based storage systems.The database servers 104 can access data that can be stored on a varietyof hardware components. These hardware components can include, forexample, components forming tier 0 storage, components forming tier 1storage, components forming tier 2 storage, and/or any other tier ofstorage. In some embodiments, tier 0 storage refers to storage that isthe fastest tier of storage in the database server 104, andparticularly, the tier 0 storage is the fastest storage that is not RAMor cache memory. In some embodiments, the tier 0 memory can be embodiedin solid state memory such as, for example, a solid-state drive (SSD)and/or flash memory.

In some embodiments, the tier 1 storage refers to storage that is one orseveral higher performing systems in the memory management system, andthat is relatively slower than tier 0 memory, and relatively faster thanother tiers of memory. The tier 1 memory can be one or several harddisks that can be, for example, high-performance hard disks. These harddisks can be one or both of physically or communicatingly connected suchas, for example, by one or several fiber channels. In some embodiments,the one or several disks can be arranged into a disk storage system, andspecifically can be arranged into an enterprise class disk storagesystem. The disk storage system can include any desired level ofredundancy to protect data stored therein, and in one embodiment, thedisk storage system can be made with grid architecture that createsparallelism for uniform allocation of system resources and balanced datadistribution.

In some embodiments, the tier 2 storage refers to storage that includesone or several relatively lower performing systems in the memorymanagement system, as compared to the tier 1 and tier 2 storages. Thus,tier 2 memory is relatively slower than tier 1 and tier 0 memories. Tier2 memory can include one or several SATA-drives or one or severalNL-SATA drives.

In some embodiments, the one or several hardware and/or softwarecomponents of the database server 104 can be arranged into one orseveral storage area networks (SAN), which one or several storage areanetworks can be one or several dedicated networks that provide access todata storage, and particularly that provides access to consolidated,block level data storage. A SAN typically has its own network of storagedevices that are generally not accessible through the local area network(LAN) by other devices. The SAN allows access to these devices in amanner such that these devices appear to be locally attached to the userdevice.

Data stores 104 may comprise stored data relevant to the functions ofthe content distribution network 100. Illustrative examples of datastores 104 that may be maintained in certain embodiments of the contentdistribution network 100 are described below in reference to FIG. 3. Insome embodiments, multiple data stores may reside on a single server104, either using the same storage components of server 104 or usingdifferent physical storage components to assure data security andintegrity between data stores. In other embodiments, each data store mayhave a separate dedicated data store server 104.

Content distribution network 100 also may include one or more userdevices 106 and/or supervisor devices 110. User devices 106 andsupervisor devices 110 may display content received via the contentdistribution network 100, and may support various types of userinteractions with the content. User devices 106 and supervisor devices110 may include mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers,personal digital assistants, virtual reality devices such as, forexample, virtual reality headsets, and wearable computing devices. Suchmobile devices may run a variety of mobile operating systems, and may beenabled for Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS), Bluetooth®,mobile radio-frequency identification (M-RFID), and/or othercommunication protocols. Other user devices 106 and supervisor devices110 may be general purpose personal computers or special-purposecomputing devices including, by way of example, personal computers,laptop computers, workstation computers, projection devices, andinteractive room display systems. Additionally, user devices 106 andsupervisor devices 110 may be any other electronic devices, such as athin-client computers, an Internet-enabled gaming systems, business orhome appliances, and/or a personal messaging devices, capable ofcommunicating over network(s) 120.

In different contexts of content distribution networks 100, user devices106 and supervisor devices 110 may correspond to different types ofspecialized devices, for example, student devices and teacher devices inan educational network, employee devices and presentation devices in acompany network, different gaming devices in a gaming network, etc. Insome embodiments, user devices 106 and supervisor devices 110 mayoperate in the same physical location 107, such as a classroom orconference room. In such cases, the devices may contain components thatsupport direct communications with other nearby devices, such aswireless transceivers and wireless communications interfaces, Ethernetsockets or other Local Area Network (LAN) interfaces, etc. In otherimplementations, the user devices 106 and supervisor devices 110 neednot be used at the same location 107, but may be used in remotegeographic locations in which each user device 106 and supervisor device110 may use security features and/or specialized hardware (e.g.,hardware-accelerated SSL and HTTPS, WS-Security, firewalls, etc.) tocommunicate with the content management server 102 and/or other remotelylocated user devices 106. Additionally, different user devices 106 andsupervisor devices 110 may be assigned different designated roles, suchas presenter devices, teacher devices, administrator devices, or thelike, and in such cases the different devices may be provided withadditional hardware and/or software components to provide content andsupport user capabilities not available to the other devices.

The content distribution network 100 also may include a privacy server108 that maintains private user information at the privacy server 108while using applications or services hosted on other servers. Forexample, the privacy server 108 may be used to maintain private data ofa user within one jurisdiction even though the user is accessing anapplication hosted on a server (e.g., the content management server 102)located outside the jurisdiction. In such cases, the privacy server 108may intercept communications between a user device 106 or supervisordevice 110 and other devices that include private user information. Theprivacy server 108 may create a token or identifier that does notdisclose the private information and may use the token or identifierwhen communicating with the other servers and systems, instead of usingthe user's private information.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the content management server 102 may be incommunication with one or more additional servers, such as a contentserver 112, a user data server 112, and/or an administrator server 116.Each of these servers may include some or all of the same physical andlogical components as the content management server(s) 102, and in somecases, the hardware and software components of these servers 112-116 maybe incorporated into the content management server(s) 102, rather thanbeing implemented as separate computer servers.

Content server 112 may include hardware and software components togenerate, store, and maintain the content resources for distribution touser devices 106 and other devices in the network 100. For example, incontent distribution networks 100 used for professional training andeducational purposes, content server 112 may include data stores oftraining materials, presentations, plans, syllabi, reviews, evaluations,interactive programs and simulations, course models, course outlines,and various training interfaces that correspond to different materialsand/or different types of user devices 106. In content distributionnetworks 100 used for media distribution, interactive gaming, and thelike, a content server 112 may include media content files such asmusic, movies, television programming, games, and advertisements.

User data server 114 may include hardware and software components thatstore and process data for multiple users relating to each user'sactivities and usage of the content distribution network 100. Forexample, the content management server 102 may record and track eachuser's system usage, including their user device 106, content resourcesaccessed, and interactions with other user devices 106. This data may bestored and processed by the user data server 114, to support usertracking and analysis features. For instance, in the professionaltraining and educational contexts, the user data server 114 may storeand analyze each user's training materials viewed, presentationsattended, courses completed, interactions, evaluation results, and thelike. The user data server 114 may also include a repository foruser-generated material, such as evaluations and tests completed byusers, and documents and assignments prepared by users. In the contextof media distribution and interactive gaming, the user data server 114may store and process resource access data for multiple users (e.g.,content titles accessed, access times, data usage amounts, gaminghistories, user devices and device types, etc.).

Administrator server 116 may include hardware and software components toinitiate various administrative functions at the content managementserver 102 and other components within the content distribution network100. For example, the administrator server 116 may monitor device statusand performance for the various servers, data stores, and/or userdevices 106 in the content distribution network 100. When necessary, theadministrator server 116 may add or remove devices from the network 100,and perform device maintenance such as providing software updates to thedevices in the network 100. Various administrative tools on theadministrator server 116 may allow authorized users to set user accesspermissions to various content resources, monitor resource usage byusers and devices 106, and perform analyses and generate reports onspecific network users and/or devices (e.g., resource usage trackingreports, training evaluations, etc.).

The content distribution network 100 may include one or morecommunication networks 120. Although only a single network 120 isidentified in FIG. 1, the content distribution network 100 may includeany number of different communication networks between any of thecomputer servers and devices shown in FIG. 1 and/or other devicesdescribed herein. Communication networks 120 may enable communicationbetween the various computing devices, servers, and other components ofthe content distribution network 100. As discussed below, variousimplementations of content distribution networks 100 may employdifferent types of networks 120, for example, computer networks,telecommunications networks, wireless networks, and/or any combinationof these and/or other networks.

The content distribution network 100 may include one or severalnavigation systems or features including, for example, the GlobalPositioning System (“GPS”), GALILEO, or the like, or location systems orfeatures including, for example, one or several transceivers that candetermine location of the one or several components of the contentdistribution network 100 via, for example, triangulation. All of theseare depicted as navigation system 122.

In some embodiments, navigation system 122 can include one or severalfeatures that can communicate with one or several components of thecontent distribution network 100 including, for example, with one orseveral of the user devices 106 and/or with one or several of thesupervisor devices 110. In some embodiments, this communication caninclude the transmission of a signal from the navigation system 122which signal is received by one or several components of the contentdistribution network 100 and can be used to determine the location ofthe one or several components of the content distribution network 100.

With reference to FIG. 2, an illustrative distributed computingenvironment 200 is shown including a computer server 202, four clientcomputing devices 206, and other components that may implement certainembodiments and features described herein. In some embodiments, theserver 202 may correspond to the content management server 102 discussedabove in FIG. 1, and the client computing devices 206 may correspond tothe user devices 106. However, the computing environment 200 illustratedin FIG. 2 may correspond to any other combination of devices and serversconfigured to implement a client-server model or other distributedcomputing architecture.

Client devices 206 may be configured to receive and execute clientapplications over one or more networks 220. Such client applications maybe web browser based applications and/or standalone softwareapplications, such as mobile device applications. Server 202 may becommunicatively coupled with the client devices 206 via one or morecommunication networks 220. Client devices 206 may receive clientapplications from server 202 or from other application providers (e.g.,public or private application stores). Server 202 may be configured torun one or more server software applications or services, for example,web-based or cloud-based services, to support content distribution andinteraction with client devices 206. Users operating client devices 206may in turn utilize one or more client applications (e.g., virtualclient applications) to interact with server 202 to utilize the servicesprovided by these components.

Various different subsystems and/or components 204 may be implemented onserver 202. Users operating the client devices 206 may initiate one ormore client applications to use services provided by these subsystemsand components. The subsystems and components within the server 202 andclient devices 206 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software,or combinations thereof. Various different system configurations arepossible in different distributed computing systems 200 and contentdistribution networks 100. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is thus oneexample of a distributed computing system and is not intended to belimiting.

Although exemplary computing environment 200 is shown with four clientcomputing devices 206, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices, such as specialized sensor devices, etc., mayinteract with client devices 206 and/or server 202.

As shown in FIG. 2, various security and integration components 208 maybe used to send and manage communications between the server 202 anduser devices 206 over one or more communication networks 220. Thesecurity and integration components 208 may include separate servers,such as web servers and/or authentication servers, and/or specializednetworking components, such as firewalls, routers, gateways, loadbalancers, and the like. In some cases, the security and integrationcomponents 208 may correspond to a set of dedicated hardware and/orsoftware operating at the same physical location and under the controlof the same entities as server 202. For example, components 208 mayinclude one or more dedicated web servers and network hardware in adatacenter or a cloud infrastructure. In other examples, the securityand integration components 208 may correspond to separate hardware andsoftware components which may be operated at a separate physicallocation and/or by a separate entity.

Security and integration components 208 may implement various securityfeatures for data transmission and storage, such as authenticating usersand restricting access to unknown or unauthorized users. In variousimplementations, security and integration components 208 may provide,for example, a file-based integration scheme or a service-basedintegration scheme for transmitting data between the various devices inthe content distribution network 100. Security and integrationcomponents 208 also may use secure data transmission protocols and/orencryption for data transfers, for example, File Transfer Protocol(FTP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and/or Pretty Good Privacy(PGP) encryption.

In some embodiments, one or more web services may be implemented withinthe security and integration components 208 and/or elsewhere within thecontent distribution network 100. Such web services, includingcross-domain and/or cross-platform web services, may be developed forenterprise use in accordance with various web service standards, such asRESTful web services (i.e., services based on the Representation StateTransfer (REST) architectural style and constraints), and/or webservices designed in accordance with the Web Service Interoperability(WS-I) guidelines. Some web services may use the Secure Sockets Layer(SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol to provide secureconnections between the server 202 and user devices 206. SSL or TLS mayuse HTTP or HTTPS to provide authentication and confidentiality. Inother examples, web services may be implemented using REST over HTTPSwith the OAuth open standard for authentication, or using theWS-Security standard which provides for secure SOAP messages using XMLencryption. In other examples, the security and integration components208 may include specialized hardware for providing secure web services.For example, security and integration components 208 may include securenetwork appliances having built-in features such as hardware-acceleratedSSL and HTTPS, WS-Security, and firewalls. Such specialized hardware maybe installed and configured in front of any web servers, so that anyexternal devices may communicate directly with the specialized hardware.

Communication network(s) 220 may be any type of network familiar tothose skilled in the art that can support data communications using anyof a variety of commercially-available protocols, including withoutlimitation, TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol),SNA (systems network architecture), IPX (Internet packet exchange),Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols,Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Secure Hyper Text TransferProtocol (HTTPS), Bluetooth®, Near Field Communication (NFC), and thelike. Merely by way of example, network(s) 220 may be local areanetworks (LAN), such as one based on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or thelike. Network(s) 220 also may be wide-area networks, such as theInternet. Networks 220 may include telecommunication networks such as apublic switched telephone networks (PSTNs), or virtual networks such asan intranet or an extranet. Infrared and wireless networks (e.g., usingthe Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 protocol suiteor other wireless protocols) also may be included in networks 220.

Computing environment 200 also may include one or more data stores 210and/or back-end servers 212. In certain examples, the data stores 210may correspond to data store server(s) 104 discussed above in FIG. 1,and back-end servers 212 may correspond to the various back-end servers112-116. Data stores 210 and servers 212 may reside in the samedatacenter or may operate at a remote location from server 202. In somecases, one or more data stores 210 may reside on a non-transitorystorage medium within the server 202. Other data stores 210 and back-endservers 212 may be remote from server 202 and configured to communicatewith server 202 via one or more networks 220. In certain embodiments,data stores 210 and back-end servers 212 may reside in a storage-areanetwork (SAN), or may use storage-as-a-service (STaaS) architecturalmodel.

With reference to FIG. 3, an illustrative set of data stores and/or datastore servers is shown, corresponding to the data store servers 104 ofthe content distribution network 100 discussed above in FIG. 1. One ormore individual data stores 301-311 may reside in storage on a singlecomputer server 104 (or a single server farm or cluster) under thecontrol of a single entity, or may reside on separate servers operatedby different entities and/or at remote locations. In some embodiments,data stores 301-311 may be accessed by the content management server 102and/or other devices and servers within the network 100 (e.g., userdevices 106, supervisor devices 110, administrator servers 116, etc.).Access to one or more of the data stores 301-311 may be limited ordenied based on the processes, user credentials, and/or devicesattempting to interact with the data store.

The paragraphs below describe examples of specific data stores that maybe implemented within some embodiments of a content distribution network100. It should be understood that the below descriptions of data stores301-311, including their functionality and types of data stored therein,are illustrative and non-limiting. Data stores server architecture,design, and the execution of specific data stores 301-311 may depend onthe context, size, and functional requirements of a content distributionnetwork 100. For example, in content distribution systems 100 used forprofessional training and educational purposes, separate databases orfile-based storage systems may be implemented in data store server(s)104 to store trainee and/or student data, trainer and/or professor data,training module data and content descriptions, training results,evaluation data, and the like. In contrast, in content distributionsystems 100 used for media distribution from content providers tosubscribers, separate data stores may be implemented in data storesserver(s) 104 to store listings of available content titles anddescriptions, content title usage statistics, subscriber profiles,account data, payment data, network usage statistics, etc.

A user profile data store 301, also referred to herein as a user profiledatabase 301, may include information relating to the end users withinthe content distribution network 100. This information may include usercharacteristics such as the user names, access credentials (e.g., loginsand passwords), user preferences, and information relating to anyprevious user interactions within the content distribution network 100(e.g., requested content, posted content, content modules completed,training scores or evaluations, other associated users, etc.). In someembodiments, this information can relate to one or several individualend users such as, for example, one or several students, teachers,administrators, or the like, and in some embodiments, this informationcan relate to one or several institutional end users such as, forexample, one or several schools, groups of schools such as one orseveral school districts, one or several colleges, one or severaluniversities, one or several training providers, or the like. In someembodiments, this information can identify one or several usermemberships in one or several groups such as, for example, a student'smembership in a university, school, program, grade, course, class, orthe like.

The user profile database 301 can include information relating to auser's status, location, or the like. This information can identify, forexample, a device a user is using, the location of that device, or thelike. In some embodiments, this information can be generated based onany location detection technology including, for example, a navigationsystem 122, or the like.

Information relating to the user's status can identify, for example,logged-in status information that can indicate whether the user ispresently logged-in to the content distribution network 100 and/orwhether the log-in is active. In some embodiments, the informationrelating to the user's status can identify whether the user is currentlyaccessing content and/or participating in an activity from the contentdistribution network 100.

In some embodiments, information relating to the user's status canidentify, for example, one or several attributes of the user'sinteraction with the content distribution network 100, and/or contentdistributed by the content distribution network 100. This can includedata identifying the user's interactions with the content distributionnetwork 100, the content consumed by the user through the contentdistribution network 100, or the like. In some embodiments, this caninclude data identifying the type of information accessed through thecontent distribution network 100 and/or the type of activity performedby the user via the content distribution network 100, the lapsed timesince the last time the user accessed content and/or participated in anactivity from the content distribution network 100, or the like. In someembodiments, this information can relate to a content program comprisingan aggregate of data, content, and/or activities, and can identify, forexample, progress through the content program, or through the aggregateof data, content, and/or activities forming the content program. In someembodiments, this information can track, for example, the amount of timesince participation in and/or completion of one or several types ofactivities, the amount of time since communication with one or severalsupervisors and/or supervisor devices 110, or the like.

In some embodiments in which the one or several end users areindividuals, and specifically are students, the user profile database301 can further include information relating to these students' academicand/or educational history. This information can identify one or severalcourses of study that the student has initiated, completed, and/orpartially completed, as well as grades received in those courses ofstudy. In some embodiments, the student's academic and/or educationalhistory can further include information identifying student performanceon one or several tests, quizzes, and/or assignments. In someembodiments, this information can be stored in a tier of memory that isnot the fastest memory in the content delivery network 100.

The user profile database 301 can include information relating to one orseveral student learning preferences. In some embodiments, for example,the user, also referred to herein as the student or the student-user,may have one or several preferred learning styles, one or several mosteffective learning styles, and/or the like. In some embodiments, thestudent's learning style can be any learning style describing how thestudent best learns or how the student prefers to learn. In oneembodiment, these learning styles can include, for example,identification of the student as an auditory learner, as a visuallearner, and/or as a tactile learner. In some embodiments, the dataidentifying one or several student learning styles can include dataidentifying a learning style based on the student's educational historysuch as, for example, identifying a student as an auditory learner whenthe student has received significantly higher grades and/or scores onassignments and/or in courses favorable to auditory learners. In someembodiments, this information can be stored in a tier of memory that isnot the fastest memory in the content delivery network 100.

In some embodiments, the user profile data store 301 can further includeinformation identifying one or several user skill levels. In someembodiments, these one or several user skill levels can identify a skilllevel determined based on past performance by the user interacting withthe content delivery network 100, and in some embodiments, these one orseveral user skill levels can identify a predicted skill leveldetermined based on past performance by the user interacting with thecontent delivery network 100 and one or several predictive models.

The user profile database 301 can further include information relatingto one or several teachers and/or instructors who are responsible fororganizing, presenting, and/or managing the presentation of informationto the student. In some embodiments, user profile database 301 caninclude information identifying courses and/or subjects that have beentaught by the teacher, data identifying courses and/or subjectscurrently taught by the teacher, and/or data identifying courses and/orsubjects that will be taught by the teacher. In some embodiments, thiscan include information relating to one or several teaching styles ofone or several teachers. In some embodiments, the user profile database301 can further include information indicating past evaluations and/orevaluation reports received by the teacher. In some embodiments, theuser profile database 301 can further include information relating toimprovement suggestions received by the teacher, training received bythe teacher, continuing education received by the teacher, and/or thelike. In some embodiments, this information can be stored in a tier ofmemory that is not the fastest memory in the content delivery network100.

An accounts data store 302, also referred to herein as an accountsdatabase 302, may generate and store account data for different users invarious roles within the content distribution network 100. For example,accounts may be created in an accounts data store 302 for individual endusers, supervisors, administrator users, and entities such as companiesor educational institutions. Account data may include account types,current account status, account characteristics, and any parameters,limits, restrictions associated with the accounts.

A content library data store 303, also referred to herein as a contentlibrary database 303, may include information describing the individualcontent items (or content resources or data packets) available via thecontent distribution network 100. In some embodiments, these datapackets in the content library database 303 can be linked to form anobject network. In some embodiments, these data packets can be linked inthe object network according to one or several prerequisiterelationships that can, for example, identify the relative hierarchyand/or difficulty of the data objects. In some embodiments, thishierarchy of data objects can be generated by the content distributionnetwork 100 according to user experience with the object network, and insome embodiments, this hierarchy of data objects can be generated basedon one or several existing and/or external hierarchies such as, forexample, a syllabus, a table of contents, or the like. In someembodiments, for example, the object network can correspond to asyllabus such that content for the syllabus is embodied in the objectnetwork.

In some embodiments, the content library database 303 can include aplurality of content components. The content components can, in someembodiments, comprise one or several tasks, questions, activities, orthe like that can be combined together to create a single piece ofcontent, also referred to herein as a content aggregation or form, suchas, for example, a single assignment, quiz, test, or evaluation. In someembodiments, these single content components can be each associated withinformation. This information can be generated from user interactionwith the content of the single components. In some embodiments, thisinformation can, for example, characterize a reliability of the singleitem, a difficulty of the single item, a differentiation of the singleitem, one or several averages of the single item, one or severalstandard deviations of the single item, or the like. In someembodiments, the differentiation of the single item can characterize thedegree to which correctly or incorrectly responding to the itemdelineates between skill levels, attribute levels, or the like. In someembodiments, information associated with single items can be used todetermine a reliability of a combination of multiple items.

In some embodiments, the content library database 303 can comprise oneor several forms that can each include a plurality content components.In some embodiments, these forms can be created by a user of the CDN 100from the content components stored in the content library database 303.In some embodiments, some or all of these one or several forms can becharacterized by, for example, one or several scores or statisticalmeasures. These scores or statistical measures can include a reliabilitycoefficient such as, for example, a Cronbach's α, an error score orvalue such as, for example, a standard error of measurement (SEM) score,or the like. In some embodiments, one or several of these scores can becalculated based on the information associated with each of the contentcomponents. In some embodiments, these one or several scores of the formcan be calculated in real-time and in some embodiments, one or severalscores for alternative forms can be calculated to allow therecommendation of one or several content components for inclusion in theform and/or for removal from the form. In some embodiments, these one orseveral scores can vary based on one or several attributes of theintended recipient and/or recipients of the form. These one or severalattributes can include, for example, gender, age, education,intelligence, or the like.

In some embodiments, the content library data store 303 can comprise asyllabus, a schedule, or the like. In some embodiments, the syllabus orschedule can identify one or several tasks and/or events relevant to theuser. In some embodiments, for example, when the user is a member of agroup such as, a section or a class, these tasks and/or events relevantto the user can identify one or several assignments, quizzes, exams, orthe like.

In some embodiments, the library data store 303 may include metadata,properties, and other characteristics associated with the contentresources stored in the content server 112. Such data may identify oneor more aspects or content attributes of the associated contentresources, for example, subject matter, access level, or skill level ofthe content resources, license attributes of the content resources(e.g., any limitations and/or restrictions on the licensable use and/ordistribution of the content resource), price attributes of the contentresources (e.g., a price and/or price structure for determining apayment amount for use or distribution of the content resource), ratingattributes for the content resources (e.g., data indicating theevaluation or effectiveness of the content resource), and the like. Insome embodiments, the library data store 303 may be configured to allowupdating of content metadata or properties, and to allow the additionand/or removal of information relating to the content resources. Forexample, content relationships may be implemented as graph structures,which may be stored in the library data store 303 or in an additionalstore for use by selection algorithms along with the other metadata.

In some embodiments, the content library data store 303 can containinformation used in evaluating responses received from users. In someembodiments, for example, a user can receive content from the contentdistribution network 100 and can, subsequent to receiving that content,provide a response to the received content. In some embodiments, forexample, the received content can comprise one or several questions,prompts, or the like, and the response to the received content cancomprise an answer to those one or several questions, prompts, or thelike. In some embodiments, information, referred to herein as“comparative data,” from the content library data store 303 can be usedto determine whether the responses are the correct and/or desiredresponses.

In some embodiments, the content library database 303 and/or the userprofile database 301 can comprise an aggregation network also referredto herein as a content network or content aggregation network. Theaggregation network can comprise a plurality of content aggregationsthat can be linked together by, for example: creation by common user;relation to a common subject, topic, skill, or the like; creation from acommon set of source material such as source data packets; or the like.In some embodiments, the content aggregation can comprise a grouping ofcontent comprising the presentation portion that can be provided to theuser in the form of, for example, a flash card and an extraction portionthat can comprise the desired response to the presentation portion suchas for example, an answer to a flash card. In some embodiments, one orseveral content aggregations can be generated by the contentdistribution network 100 and can be related to one or several datapackets that can be, for example, organized in object network. In someembodiments, the one or several content aggregations can be each createdfrom content stored in one or several of the data packets.

In some embodiments, the content aggregations located in the contentlibrary database 303 and/or the user profile database 301 can beassociated with a user-creator of those content aggregations. In someembodiments, access to content aggregations can vary based on, forexample, whether a user created the content aggregations. In someembodiments, the content library database 303 and/or the user profiledatabase 301 can comprise a database of content aggregations associatedwith a specific user, and in some embodiments, the content librarydatabase 303 and/or the user profile database 301 can comprise aplurality of databases of content aggregations that are each associatedwith a specific user. In some embodiments, these databases of contentaggregations can include content aggregations created by their specificuser and in some embodiments, these databases of content aggregationscan further include content aggregations selected for inclusion by theirspecific user and/or a supervisor of that specific user. In someembodiments, these content aggregations can be arranged and/or linked ina hierarchical relationship similar to the data packets in the objectnetwork and/or linked to the object network in the object network or thetasks or skills associated with the data packets in the object networkor the syllabus or schedule.

In some embodiments, the content aggregation network, and the contentaggregations forming the content aggregation network can be organizedaccording to the object network and/or the hierarchical relationshipsembodied in the object network. In some embodiments, the contentaggregation network, and/or the content aggregations forming the contentaggregation network can be organized according to one or several tasksidentified in the syllabus, schedule or the like.

In some embodiments, the content library database 303 can include subdatabases containing content generated by one or several usersincluding, for example, a content database and/or a comment database. Insome embodiments, for example, content can be associated with a group ofusers such as a group of users in a course, a class, a training group,or the like, which uses can include, one or several students, trainees,or the like. In some embodiments, this group of users can furtherinclude one or several teachers, trainers, professors, or the like. Thiscontent can be generated by one of the users or can be generated by asource other than one of the users. This content can, in someembodiments, comprise a plurality of pieces of content each of whichpieces of content can be generated by one or several of the users. Insome embodiments such as when the group of users is in a course, each ofthe pieces of content can be generated by one or several users as partof an assignment, a test, a quiz, or the like. The content can comprise,the video file, and audio file, text file, and image file, or the like.

The comment database can comprise comments relating to one or several ofthe pieces of content in the content database. The comments can begenerated by one or several of the users. The comment database can be,in some embodiments, independent of the content database such that achange to the comment database does not change the content database.Similarly, in some embodiments, the comment database is independent ofthe content database such that a change to the content database does notchange the comment database. In such embodiments, the comment databasecan include one or several pointers associated with entries in thecomment database linking those entries to pieces of content in thecontent database. The Scott comments stored in the comment database asentries can be linked to the appropriate one of the pieces of content inthe content database via the one or several pointers. In someembodiments, each entry in the content database can include informationidentifying the one or several pieces of content associated with theentry, comment content, data identifying one or several evaluationcriteria or evaluation metrics associated with the content, or the like.

A pricing data store 304 may include pricing information and/or pricingstructures for determining payment amounts for providing access to thecontent distribution network 100 and/or the individual content resourceswithin the network 100. In some cases, pricing may be determined basedon a user's access to the content distribution network 100, for example,a time-based subscription fee, or pricing based on network usage. Inother cases, pricing may be tied to specific content resources. Certaincontent resources may have associated pricing information, whereas otherpricing determinations may be based on the resources accessed, theprofiles and/or accounts of the user, and the desired level of access(e.g., duration of access, network speed, etc.). Additionally, thepricing data store 304 may include information relating to compilationpricing for groups of content resources, such as group prices and/orprice structures for groupings of resources.

A license data store 305 may include information relating to licensesand/or licensing of the content resources within the contentdistribution network 100. For example, the license data store 305 mayidentify licenses and licensing terms for individual content resourcesand/or compilations of content resources in the content server 112, therights holders for the content resources, and/or common or large-scaleright holder information such as contact information for rights holdersof content not included in the content server 112.

A content access data store 306 may include access rights and securityinformation for the content distribution network 100 and specificcontent resources. For example, the content access data store 306 mayinclude login information (e.g., user identifiers, logins, passwords,etc.) that can be verified during user login attempts to the network100. The content access data store 306 also may be used to storeassigned user roles and/or user levels of access. For example, a user'saccess level may correspond to the sets of content resources and/or theclient or server applications that the user is permitted to access.Certain users may be permitted or denied access to certain applicationsand resources based on their subscription level, training program,course/grade level, etc. Certain users may have supervisory access overone or more end users, allowing the supervisor to access all or portionsof the end user's content, activities, evaluations, etc. Additionally,certain users may have administrative access over some users and/or someapplications in the content management network 100, allowing such usersto add and remove user accounts, modify user access permissions, performmaintenance updates on software and servers, etc.

A source data store 307 may include information relating to the sourceof the content resources available via the content distribution network.For example, a source data store 307 may identify the authors andoriginating devices of content resources, previous pieces of data and/orgroups of data originating from the same authors or originating devices,and the like.

An evaluation data store 308 may include information used to direct theevaluation of users and content resources in the content managementnetwork 100. In some embodiments, the evaluation data store 308 maycontain, for example, the analysis criteria and the analysis guidelinesfor evaluating users (e.g., trainees/students, gaming users, mediacontent consumers, etc.) and/or for evaluating the content resources inthe network 100. The evaluation data store 308 also may includeinformation relating to evaluation processing tasks, for example, theidentification of users and user devices 106 that have received certaincontent resources or accessed certain applications, the status ofevaluations or evaluation histories for content resources, users, orapplications, and the like. Evaluation criteria may be stored in theevaluation data store 308 including data and/or instructions in the formof one or several electronic rubrics or scoring guides for use in theevaluation of the content, users, or applications. The evaluation datastore 308 also may include past evaluations and/or evaluation analysesfor users, content, and applications, including relative rankings,characterizations, explanations, and the like.

In some embodiments, the evaluation database 308 can comprise a subdatabase identified herein as the evaluation metric database. In someembodiments, the evaluation metric database can identify one or severalcriteria, metrics, rubrics, or the like for use in evaluating one orseveral of the one or several pieces of content in the content database.In some embodiments, the one or several metrics can each define one orseveral metric subcomponents and provide information for generating oneor several values characterizing each of those one or several metricsubcomponents. In some embodiments, the evaluation metric database canbe independent of one or both of the content database and the commentdatabase. In some embodiments, some or all of the entries in the commentdatabase can be linked to one or several of the metrics, rubrics,criteria, or the like in the evaluation metric database. In oneembodiment, for example, each entry in the comment database can belinked to a metric in the evaluation metric database, and specificallyeach entry in the comment database can be linked to one or several ofthe metric subcomponents within one of the metrics in the evaluationdatabase. In some embodiments, this link can identify one or severalmetric subcomponents relevant to the comment.

In some embodiments, each metric in the evaluation metric database canbe associated with metric metadata. This metric metadata can identifyinformation relevant to the metric such as, for example, the course orsection associated with the metric, the teacher associated with themetric, the assignment associated with the metric, or the like. Themetric metadata can be stored in the evaluation metric database and canbe linked to its associated metric(s).

A model data store 309, also referred to herein as a model database 309,can store information relating to one or several predictive models. Insome embodiments, these can include one or several evidence models, riskmodels, skill models, or the like. In some embodiments, an evidencemodel can be a mathematically-based statistical model. The evidencemodel can be based on, for example, Item Response Theory (IRT), BayesianNetwork (Bayes net), Performance Factor Analysis (PFA), or the like. Theevidence model can, in some embodiments, be customizable to a userand/or to one or several content items. Specifically, one or severalinputs relating to the user and/or to one or several content items canbe inserted into the evidence model. These inputs can include, forexample, one or several measures of user skill level, one or severalmeasures of content item difficulty and/or skill level, or the like. Thecustomized evidence model can then be used to predict the likelihood ofthe user providing desired or undesired responses to one or several ofthe content items.

In some embodiments, the risk models can include one or several modelsthat can be used to calculate one or several model function values. Insome embodiments, these one or several model function values can be usedto calculate a risk probability, which risk probability can characterizethe risk of a user such as a student-user failing to achieve a desiredoutcome such as, for example, failing to correctly respond to one orseveral data packets, failure to achieve a desired level of completionof a program, for example in a pre-defined time period, failure toachieve a desired learning outcome, or the like. In some embodiments,the risk probability can identify the risk of the student-user failingto complete 60% of the program.

In some embodiments, these models can include a plurality of modelfunctions including, for example, a first model function, a second modelfunction, a third model function, and a fourth model function. In someembodiments, some or all of the model functions can be associated with aportion of the program such as, for example a completion stage and/orcompletion status of the program. In one embodiment, for example, thefirst model function can be associated with a first completion status,the second model function can be associated with a second completionstatus, the third model function can be associated with a thirdcompletion status, and the fourth model function can be associated witha fourth completion status. In some embodiments, these completionstatuses can be selected such that some or all of these completionstatuses are less than the desired level of completion of the program.Specifically, in some embodiments, these completion status can beselected to all be at less than 60% completion of the program, and morespecifically, in some embodiments, the first completion status can be at20% completion of the program, the second completion status can be at30% completion of the program, the third completion status can be at 40%completion of the program, and the fourth completion status can be at50% completion of the program. Similarly, any desired number of modelfunctions can be associated with any desired number of completionstatuses.

In some embodiments, a model function can be selected from the pluralityof model functions based on a student-user's progress through a program.In some embodiments, the student-user's progress can be compared to oneor several status trigger thresholds, each of which status triggerthresholds can be associated with one or more of the model functions. Ifone of the status triggers is triggered by the student-user's progress,the corresponding one or several model functions can be selected.

The model functions can comprise a variety of types of models and/orfunctions. In some embodiments, each of the model functions outputs afunction value that can be used in calculating a risk probability. Thisfunction value can be calculated by performing one or severalmathematical operations on one or several values indicative of one orseveral user attributes and/or user parameters, also referred to hereinas program status parameters. In some embodiments, each of the modelfunctions can use the same program status parameters, and in someembodiments, the model functions can use different program statusparameters. In some embodiments, the model functions use differentprogram status parameters when at least one of the model functions usesat least one program status parameter that is not used by others of themodel functions.

In some embodiments, a skill model can comprise a statistical modelidentifying a predictive skill level of one or several students. In someembodiments, this model can identify a single skill level of a studentand/or a range of possible skill levels of a student. In someembodiments, this statistical model can identify a skill level of astudent-user and an error value or error range associated with thatskill level. In some embodiments, the error value can be associated witha confidence interval determined based on a confidence level. Thus, insome embodiments, as the number of student interactions with the contentdistribution network increases, the confidence level can increase andthe error value can decrease such that the range identified by the errorvalue about the predicted skill level is smaller.

A threshold database 310, also referred to herein as a thresholddatabase, can store one or several threshold values. These one orseveral threshold values can delineate between states or conditions. Inone exemplary embodiments, for example, a threshold value can delineatebetween an acceptable user performance and an unacceptable userperformance, between content appropriate for a user and content that isinappropriate for a user, between risk levels, or the like.

In addition to the illustrative data stores described above, data storeserver(s) 104 (e.g., database servers, file-based storage servers, etc.)may include one or more external data aggregators 311. External dataaggregators 311 may include third-party data sources accessible to thecontent management network 100, but not maintained by the contentmanagement network 100. External data aggregators 311 may include anyelectronic information source relating to the users, content resources,or applications of the content distribution network 100. For example,external data aggregators 311 may be third-party data stores containingdemographic data, education related data, consumer sales data, healthrelated data, and the like. Illustrative external data aggregators 311may include, for example, social networking web servers, public recordsdata stores, learning management systems, educational institutionservers, business servers, consumer sales data stores, medical recorddata stores, etc. Data retrieved from various external data aggregators311 may be used to verify and update user account information, suggestuser content, and perform user and content evaluations.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a block diagram is shown illustrating anembodiment of one or more content management servers 102 within acontent distribution network 100. In such an embodiment, contentmanagement server 102 performs internal data gathering and processing ofstreamed content along with external data gathering and processing.Other embodiments could have either all external or all internal datagathering. This embodiment allows reporting timely information thatmight be of interest to the reporting party or other parties. In thisembodiment, the content management server 102 can monitor gatheredinformation from several sources to allow it to make timely businessand/or processing decisions based upon that information. For example,reports of user actions and/or responses, as well as the status and/orresults of one or several processing tasks could be gathered andreported to the content management server 102 from a number of sources.

Internally, the content management server 102 gathers information fromone or more internal components 402-408. The internal components 402-408gather and/or process information relating to such things as: contentprovided to users; content consumed by users; responses provided byusers; user skill levels; form reliability; content difficulty levels;next content for providing to users; etc. The internal components402-408 can report the gathered and/or generated information inreal-time, near real-time or along another time line. To account for anydelay in reporting information, a time stamp or staleness indicator caninform others of how timely the information was sampled. The contentmanagement server 102 can optionally allow third parties to useinternally or externally gathered information that is aggregated withinthe server 102 by subscription to the content distribution network 100.

A command and control (CC) interface 338 configures the gathered inputinformation to an output of data streams, also referred to herein ascontent streams. APIs for accepting gathered information and providingdata streams are provided to third parties external to the server 102who want to subscribe to data streams. The server 102 or a third partycan design as yet undefined APIs using the CC interface 338. The server102 can also define authorization and authentication parameters usingthe CC interface 338 such as authentication, authorization, login,and/or data encryption. CC information is passed to the internalcomponents 402-408 and/or other components of the content distributionnetwork 100 through a channel separate from the gathered information ordata stream in this embodiment, but other embodiments could embed CCinformation in these communication channels. The CC information allowsthrottling information reporting frequency, specifying formats forinformation and data streams, deactivation of one or several internalcomponents 402-408 and/or other components of the content distributionnetwork 100, updating authentication and authorization, etc.

The various data streams that are available can be researched andexplored through the CC interface 338. Those data stream selections fora particular subscriber, which can be one or several of the internalcomponents 402-408 and/or other components of the content distributionnetwork 100, are stored in the queue subscription information database322. The server 102 and/or the CC interface 338 then routes selecteddata streams to processing subscribers that have selected delivery of agiven data stream. Additionally, the server 102 also supports historicalqueries of the various data streams that are stored in an historicaldata store 334 as gathered by an archive data agent 336. Through the CCinterface 238 various data streams can be selected for archiving intothe historical data store 334.

Components of the content distribution network 100 outside of the server102 can also gather information that is reported to the server 102 inreal-time, near real-time, or along another time line. There is adefined API between those components and the server 102. Each type ofinformation or variable collected by server 102 falls within a definedAPI or multiple APIs. In some cases, the CC interface 338 is used todefine additional variables to modify an API that might be of use toprocessing subscribers. The additional variables can be passed to allprocessing subscribes or just a subset. For example, a component of thecontent distribution network 100 outside of the server 102 may report auser response, but define an identifier of that user as a privatevariable that would not be passed to processing subscribers lackingaccess to that user and/or authorization to receive that user data.Processing subscribers having access to that user and/or authorizationto receive that user data would receive the subscriber identifier alongwith response reported to that component. Encryption and/or uniqueaddressing of data streams or sub-streams can be used to hide theprivate variables within the messaging queues.

The user devices 106 and/or supervisor devices 110 communicate with theserver 102 through security and/or integration hardware 410. Thecommunication with security and/or integration hardware 410 can beencrypted or not. For example, a socket using a TCP connection could beused. In addition to TCP, other transport layer protocols like SCTP andUDP could be used in some embodiments to intake the gatheredinformation. A protocol such as SSL could be used to protect theinformation over the TCP connection. Authentication and authorizationcan be performed to any user devices 106 and/or supervisor deviceinterfacing to the server 102. The security and/or integration hardware410 receives the information from one or several of the user devices 106and/or the supervisor devices 110 by providing the API and anyencryption, authorization, and/or authentication. In some cases, thesecurity and/or integration hardware 410 reformats or rearranges thisreceived information

The messaging bus 412, also referred to herein as a messaging queue or amessaging channel, can receive information from the internal componentsof the server 102 and/or components of the content distribution network100 outside of the server 102 and distribute the gathered information asa data stream to any processing subscribers that have requested the datastream from the messaging queue 412. Specifically, in some embodiments,the messaging bus 412 can receive and output information from at leastone of the packet selection system, the presentation system, theresponse system, and the summary model system. In some embodiments, thisinformation can be output according to a “push” model, and in someembodiments, this information can be output according to a “pull” model.

As indicated in FIG. 4, processing subscribers are indicated by aconnector to the messaging bus 412, the connector having an arrow headpointing away from the messaging bus 412. Only data streams within themessaging queue 412 that a particular processing subscriber hassubscribed to may be read by that processing subscriber if received atall. Gathered information sent to the messaging queue 412 is processedand returned in a data stream in a fraction of a second by the messagingqueue 412. Various multicasting and routing techniques can be used todistribute a data stream from the messaging queue 412 that a number ofprocessing subscribers have requested. Protocols such as Multicast ormultiple Unicast could be used to distributed streams within themessaging queue 412. Additionally, transport layer protocols like TCP,SCTP and UDP could be used in various embodiments.

Through the CC interface 338, an external or internal processingsubscriber can be assigned one or more data streams within the messagingqueue 412. A data stream is a particular type of messages in aparticular category. For example, a data stream can comprise all of thedata reported to the messaging bus 412 by a designated set ofcomponents. One or more processing subscribers could subscribe andreceive the data stream to process the information and make a decisionand/or feed the output from the processing as gathered information fedback into the messaging queue 412. Through the CC interface 338 adeveloper can search the available data streams or specify a new datastream and its API. The new data stream might be determined byprocessing a number of existing data streams with a processingsubscriber.

The CDN 110 has internal processing subscribers 402-408 that processassigned data streams to perform functions within the server 102.Internal processing subscribers 402-408 could perform functions such asproviding content to a user, receiving a response from a user,determining the correctness of the received response, updating one orseveral models based on the correctness of the response, recommendingnew content for providing to one or several users, or the like. In someembodiments, the internal processing subscriber 402-408 can receive arequest for creation of a form, receive filter inputs from the user,provide content components corresponding to the filter inputs to theuser, receive selections of content components for inclusion in theform, calculate a reliability of the form, generate recommended changesto the form, store the form, provide the form to a user, receiveresponses to the provided form, evaluate the responses, generate a scorecharacterizing the received response, updating information relevant tothe user, generating and providing an intervention or interventionrecommendation, and providing the updated information relevant to theuser.

The internal processing subscribers 402-408 can decide filtering andweighting of records from the data stream. To the extent that decisionsare made based upon analysis of the data stream, each data record istime stamped to reflect when the information was gathered such thatadditional credibility could be given to more recent results, forexample. Other embodiments may filter out records in the data streamthat are from an unreliable source or stale. For example, a particularcontributor of information may prove to have less than optimal gatheredinformation and that could be weighted very low or removed altogether.

Internal processing subscribers 402-408 may additionally process one ormore data streams to provide different information to feed back into themessaging queue 412 to be part of a different data stream. For example,hundreds of user devices 106 could provide responses that are put into adata stream on the messaging queue 412. An internal processingsubscriber 402-408 could receive the data stream and process it todetermine the difficulty of one or several data packets provided to oneor several users, and supply this information back onto the messagingqueue 412 for possible use by other internal and external processingsubscribers.

As mentioned above, the CC interface 338 allows the CDN 110 to queryhistorical messaging queue 412 information. An archive data agent 336listens to the messaging queue 412 to store data streams in a historicaldatabase 334. The historical database 334 may store data streams forvarying amounts of time and may not store all data streams. Differentdata streams may be stored for different amounts of time.

With regards to the components 402-48, the content management server(s)102 may include various server hardware and software components thatmanage the content resources within the content distribution network 100and provide interactive and adaptive content to users on various userdevices 106. For example, content management server(s) 102 may provideinstructions to and receive information from the other devices withinthe content distribution network 100, in order to manage and transmitcontent resources, user data, and server or client applicationsexecuting within the network 100.

A content management server 102 may include a packet selection system402. The packet selection system 402 may be implemented using dedicatedhardware within the content distribution network 100 (e.g., a packetselection server 402), or using designated hardware and softwareresources within a shared content management server 102. In someembodiments, the packet selection system 402 may adjust the selectionand adaptive capabilities of content resources to match the needs anddesires of the users receiving the content. For example, the packetselection system 402 may query various data stores and servers 104 toretrieve user information, such as user preferences and characteristics(e.g., from a user profile data store 301), user access restrictions tocontent recourses (e.g., from a content access data store 306), previoususer results and content evaluations (e.g., from an evaluation datastore 308), and the like. Based on the retrieved information from datastores 104 and other data sources, the packet selection system 402 maymodify content resources for individual users.

In some embodiments, the packet selection system 402 can include arecommendation engine, also referred to herein as an adaptiverecommendation engine. In some embodiments, the recommendation enginecan select one or several pieces of content, also referred to herein asdata packets or content components, for providing to a user. In someembodiments, the recommendation engine can identify one or severalcontent components for removal from a form and/or one or several contentcomponents for inclusion in a form. In some embodiments, these one orseveral content components can be identified based on their impact onthe one or several scores or statistical measures characterizing theform.

In some embodiments, for example, the reliability of a form may be toolow as compared to a threshold value. In such an embodiment, one orseveral content components in the form that are responsible fordecreasing the reliability of the form can be identified for removalfrom the form and/or can be removed from the form. Similarly, in someembodiments in which the reliability is too low, one or several contentcomponents that are not in the form can be identified for inclusion inthe form and/or can be included in the form. In some embodiments, one orseveral content components identified for inclusion in the form and/oridentified for removal from the form can be identified to the creator ofthe form for confirmation of the removal of those one or several contentcomponents from the form and/or for the confirmation of the addition ofthose one or several content components to the form.

These content components can be selected based on, for example, theinformation retrieved from the database server 104 including, forexample, the user profile database 301, the content library database303, the model database 309, or the like. In some embodiments, these oneor several data packets can be adaptively selected and/or selectedaccording to one or several selection rules, to the determinereliability of a form or draft form, or the like.

A content management server 102 also may include a summary model system404. The summary model system 404 may be implemented using dedicatedhardware within the content distribution network 100 (e.g., a summarymodel server 404), or using designated hardware and software resourceswithin a shared content management server 102. In some embodiments, thesummary model system 404 may monitor the progress of users throughvarious types of content resources and groups, such as mediacompilations, courses or curriculums in training or educationalcontexts, interactive gaming environments, and the like. For example,the summary model system 404 may query one or more databases and/or datastore servers 104 to retrieve user data such as associated contentcompilations or programs, content completion status, user goals,results, and the like. In some embodiments, the summary model system 404can generate a model, based on user response data, identifying a user'sprogress over time in developing a skill, an attribute, or the like. Insome embodiments, this can include receiving a raw score generated by,for example, the response system 406 (discussed below), and generating astandardized score from that raw score. In some embodiments, forexample, this can include the generation of a T-score from the rawscore. In some embodiments, the T-score can be a standardized score thatis positive and that has a mean of 50. In some embodiments, the T-scorecan characterize the number of standard deviations a raw score is aboveor below a mean. In some embodiments, the T-score can be used tostandardize for age, gender, or any other attribute.

A content management server 102 also may include a response system 406,which can include, in some embodiments, a response processor. Theresponse system 406 may be implemented using dedicated hardware withinthe content distribution network 100 (e.g., a response server 406), orusing designated hardware and software resources within a shared contentmanagement server 102.

The response system 406 may be configured to receive and analyzeinformation from user devices 106. For example, various ratings ofcontent resources submitted by users may be compiled and analyzed, andthen stored in a data store (e.g., a content library data store 303and/or evaluation data store 308) associated with the content. In someembodiments, the response server 406 may analyze the information todetermine the effectiveness or appropriateness of content resourceswith, for example, a subject matter, an age group, a skill level, or thelike. In some embodiments, the response system 406 may provide updatesto the packet selection system 402 or the summary model system 404, withthe attributes of one or more content resources or groups of resourceswithin the network 100.

The response system 406 also may receive and analyze user evaluationdata from user devices 106, supervisor devices 110, and administratorservers 116, etc. For instance, response system 406 may receive,aggregate, and analyze user evaluation data for different types of users(e.g., end users, supervisors, administrators, etc.) in differentcontexts (e.g., media consumer ratings, trainee or student comprehensionlevels, teacher effectiveness levels, gamer skill levels, etc.).

In some embodiments, the response system 406 can be further configuredto receive one or several responses from the user and analyze these oneor several responses. In some embodiments, for example, the responsesystem 406 can be configured to translate the one or several responsesinto one or several observables. As used herein, an observable is acharacterization of a received response. In some embodiments, thetranslation of the one or several responses into one or severalobservables can include determining whether the one or several responsesare correct responses, also referred to herein as desired responses, orare incorrect responses, also referred to herein as undesired responses.In some embodiments, the translation of the one or several responsesinto one or several observables can include characterizing the degree towhich one or several responses are desired responses and/or undesiredresponses. In some embodiments, one or several values can be generatedby the response system 406 to reflect user performance in responding tothe one or several data packets. In some embodiments, these one orseveral values can comprise one or several scores for one or severalresponses and/or data packets.

A content management server 102 also may include a presentation system408. The presentation system 408 may be implemented using dedicatedhardware within the content distribution network 100 (e.g., apresentation server 408), or using designated hardware and softwareresources within a shared content management server 102. Thepresentation system 408 can include a presentation engine that can be,for example, a software module running on the content delivery system.

The presentation system 408, also referred to herein as the presentationmodule or the presentation engine, may receive content resources fromthe packet selection system 402 and/or from the summary model system404, and provide the resources to user devices 106. The presentationsystem 408 may determine the appropriate presentation format for thecontent resources based on the user characteristics and preferences,and/or the device capabilities of user devices 106. If needed, thepresentation system 408 may convert the content resources to theappropriate presentation format and/or compress the content beforetransmission. In some embodiments, the presentation system 408 may alsodetermine the appropriate transmission media and communication protocolsfor transmission of the content resources.

In some embodiments, the presentation system 408 may include specializedsecurity and integration hardware 410, along with corresponding softwarecomponents to implement the appropriate security features contenttransmission and storage, to provide the supported network and clientaccess models, and to support the performance and scalabilityrequirements of the network 100. The security and integration layer 410may include some or all of the security and integration components 208discussed above in FIG. 2, and may control the transmission of contentresources and other data, as well as the receipt of requests and contentinteractions, to and from the user devices 106, supervisor devices 110,administrative servers 116, and other devices in the network 100.

With reference now to FIG. 5, a block diagram of an illustrativecomputer system is shown. The system 500 may correspond to any of thecomputing devices or servers of the content distribution network 100described above, or any other computing devices described herein, andspecifically can include, for example, one or several of the userdevices 106, the supervisor device 110, and/or any of the servers 102,104, 108, 112, 114, 116. In this example, computer system 500 includesprocessing units 504 that communicate with a number of peripheralsubsystems via a bus subsystem 502. These peripheral subsystems include,for example, a storage subsystem 510, an I/O subsystem 526, and acommunications subsystem 532.

Bus subsystem 502 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 500 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 502 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 502 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Sucharchitectures may include, for example, an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard.

Processing unit 504, which may be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller),controls the operation of computer system 500. One or more processors,including single core and/or multicore processors, may be included inprocessing unit 504. As shown in the figure, processing unit 504 may beimplemented as one or more independent processing units 506 and/or 508with single or multicore processors and processor caches included ineach processing unit. In other embodiments, processing unit 504 may alsobe implemented as a quad-core processing unit or larger multicoredesigns (e.g., hexa-core processors, octo-core processors, ten-coreprocessors, or greater.

Processing unit 504 may execute a variety of software processes embodiedin program code, and may maintain multiple concurrently executingprograms or processes. At any given time, some or all of the programcode to be executed can be resident in processor(s) 504 and/or instorage subsystem 510. In some embodiments, computer system 500 mayinclude one or more specialized processors, such as digital signalprocessors (DSPs), outboard processors, graphics processors,application-specific processors, and/or the like.

I/O subsystem 526 may include device controllers 528 for one or moreuser interface input devices and/or user interface output devices 530.User interface input and output devices 530 may be integral with thecomputer system 500 (e.g., integrated audio/video systems, and/ortouchscreen displays), or may be separate peripheral devices which areattachable/detachable from the computer system 500. The I/O subsystem526 may provide one or several outputs to a user by converting one orseveral electrical signals to user perceptible and/or interpretableform, and may receive one or several inputs from the user by generatingone or several electrical signals based on one or several user-causedinteractions with the I/O subsystem such as the depressing of a key orbutton, the moving of a mouse, the interaction with a touchscreen ortrackpad, the interaction of a sound wave with a microphone, or thelike.

Input devices 530 may include a keyboard, pointing devices such as amouse or trackball, a touchpad or touch screen incorporated into adisplay, a scroll wheel, a click wheel, a dial, a button, a switch, akeypad, audio input devices with voice command recognition systems,microphones, and other types of input devices. Input devices 530 mayalso include three dimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks,gamepads and graphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers,digital cameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams,image scanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3Dprinters, laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices. Additionalinput devices 530 may include, for example, motion sensing and/orgesture recognition devices that enable users to control and interactwith an input device through a natural user interface using gestures andspoken commands, eye gesture recognition devices that detect eyeactivity from users and transform the eye gestures as input into aninput device, voice recognition sensing devices that enable users tointeract with voice recognition systems through voice commands, medicalimaging input devices, MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments, andthe like.

Output devices 530 may include one or more display subsystems, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc.Display subsystems may include, for example, cathode ray tube (CRT)displays, flat-panel devices, such as those using a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) or plasma display, light-emitting diode (LED) displays,projection devices, touch screens, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system500 to a user or other computer. For example, output devices 530 mayinclude, without limitation, a variety of display devices that visuallyconvey text, graphics and audio/video information such as monitors,printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems, plotters,voice output devices, and modems.

Computer system 500 may comprise one or more storage subsystems 510,comprising hardware and software components used for storing data andprogram instructions, such as system memory 518 and computer-readablestorage media 516. The system memory 518 and/or computer-readablestorage media 516 may store program instructions that are loadable andexecutable on processing units 504, as well as data generated during theexecution of these programs.

Depending on the configuration and type of computer system 500, systemmemory 318 may be stored in volatile memory (such as random accessmemory (RAM) 512) and/or in non-volatile storage drives 514 (such asread-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) The RAM 512 may contain dataand/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/orpresently being operated and executed by processing units 504. In someimplementations, system memory 518 may include multiple different typesof memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM). In some implementations, a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transferinformation between elements within computer system 500, such as duringstart-up, may typically be stored in the non-volatile storage drives514. By way of example, and not limitation, system memory 518 mayinclude application programs 520, such as client applications, Webbrowsers, mid-tier applications, server applications, etc., program data522, and an operating system 524.

Storage subsystem 510 also may provide one or more tangiblecomputer-readable storage media 516 for storing the basic programmingand data constructs that provide the functionality of some embodiments.Software (programs, code modules, instructions) that when executed by aprocessor provide the functionality described herein may be stored instorage subsystem 510. These software modules or instructions may beexecuted by processing units 504. Storage subsystem 510 may also providea repository for storing data used in accordance with the presentinvention.

Storage subsystem 300 may also include a computer-readable storage mediareader that can further be connected to computer-readable storage media516. Together and, optionally, in combination with system memory 518,computer-readable storage media 516 may comprehensively representremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing,transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.

Computer-readable storage media 516 containing program code, or portionsof program code, may include any appropriate media known or used in theart, including storage media and communication media, such as, but notlimited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information. This can include tangible computer-readable storagemedia such as RAM, ROM, electronically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible computer readable media. This can also includenontangible computer-readable media, such as data signals, datatransmissions, or any other medium which can be used to transmit thedesired information and which can be accessed by computer system 500.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 516 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 516 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 516 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 500.

Communications subsystem 532 may provide a communication interface fromcomputer system 500 and external computing devices via one or morecommunication networks, including local area networks (LANs), wide areanetworks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), and various wirelesstelecommunications networks. As illustrated in FIG. 5, thecommunications subsystem 532 may include, for example, one or morenetwork interface controllers (NICs) 534, such as Ethernet cards,Asynchronous Transfer Mode NICs, Token Ring NICs, and the like, as wellas one or more wireless communications interfaces 536, such as wirelessnetwork interface controllers (WNICs), wireless network adapters, andthe like. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the communications subsystem 532 mayinclude, for example, one or more location determining features 538 suchas one or several navigation system features and/or receivers, and thelike. Additionally and/or alternatively, the communications subsystem532 may include one or more modems (telephone, satellite, cable, ISDN),synchronous or asynchronous digital subscriber line (DSL) units,FireWire® interfaces, USB® interfaces, and the like. Communicationssubsystem 536 also may include radio frequency (RF) transceivercomponents for accessing wireless voice and/or data networks (e.g.,using cellular telephone technology, advanced data network technology,such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution), WiFi(IEEE 802.11 family standards, or other mobile communicationtechnologies, or any combination thereof), global positioning system(GPS) receiver components, and/or other components.

The various physical components of the communications subsystem 532 maybe detachable components coupled to the computer system 500 via acomputer network, a FireWire® bus, or the like, and/or may be physicallyintegrated onto a motherboard of the computer system 500. Communicationssubsystem 532 also may be implemented in whole or in part by software.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 532 may also receive inputcommunication in the form of structured and/or unstructured data feeds,event streams, event updates, and the like, on behalf of one or moreusers who may use or access computer system 500. For example,communications subsystem 532 may be configured to receive data feeds inreal-time from users of social networks and/or other communicationservices, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/orreal-time updates from one or more third party information sources(e.g., data aggregators 311). Additionally, communications subsystem 532may be configured to receive data in the form of continuous datastreams, which may include event streams of real-time events and/orevent updates (e.g., sensor data applications, financial tickers,network performance measuring tools, clickstream analysis tools,automobile traffic monitoring, etc.). Communications subsystem 532 mayoutput such structured and/or unstructured data feeds, event streams,event updates, and the like to one or more data stores 104 that may bein communication with one or more streaming data source computerscoupled to computer system 500.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 500 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or acombination. Further, connection to other computing devices, such asnetwork input/output devices, may be employed. Based on the disclosureand teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the variousembodiments.

With reference now to FIG. 6, a block diagram illustrating oneembodiment of the communication network is shown. Specifically, FIG. 6depicts one hardware configuration in which messages are exchangedbetween a source hub 602 via the communication network 120 that caninclude one or several intermediate hubs 604. In some embodiments, thesource hub 602 can be any one or several components of the contentdistribution network generating and initiating the sending of a message,and the terminal hub 606 can be any one or several components of thecontent distribution network 100 receiving and not re-sending themessage. In some embodiments, for example, the source hub 602 can be oneor several of the user device 106, the supervisor device 110, and/or theserver 102, and the terminal hub 606 can likewise be one or several ofthe user device 106, the supervisor device 110, and/or the server 102.In some embodiments, the intermediate hubs 604 can include any computingdevice that receives the message and resends the message to a next node.

As seen in FIG. 6, in some embodiments, each of the hubs 602, 604, 606can be communicatingly connected with the data store 104. In such anembodiment, some or all of the hubs 602, 604, 606 can send informationto the data store 104 identifying a received message and/or any sent orresent message. This information can, in some embodiments, be used todetermine the completeness of any sent and/or received messages and/orto verify the accuracy and completeness of any message received by theterminal hub 606.

In some embodiments, the communication network 120 can be formed by theintermediate hubs 604. In some embodiments, the communication network120 can comprise a single intermediate hub 604, and in some embodiments,the communication network 120 can comprise a plurality of intermediatehubs. In one embodiment, for example, and as depicted in FIG. 6, thecommunication network 120 includes a first intermediate hub 604-A and asecond intermediate hub 604-B.

With reference now to FIG. 7, a block diagram illustrating oneembodiment of user device 106 and supervisor device 110 communication isshown. In some embodiments, for example, a user may have multipledevices that can connect with the content distribution network 100 tosend or receive information. In some embodiments, for example, a usermay have a personal device such as a mobile device, a Smartphone, atablet, a Smartwatch, a laptop, a PC, or the like. In some embodiments,the other device can be any computing device in addition to the personaldevice. This other device can include, for example, a laptop, a PC, aSmartphone, a tablet, a Smartwatch, or the like. In some embodiments,the other device differs from the personal device in that the personaldevice is registered as such within the content distribution network 100and the other device is not registered as a personal device within thecontent distribution network 100.

Specifically with respect to FIG. 7, the user device 106 can include apersonal user device 106-A and one or several other user devices 106-B.In some embodiments, one or both of the personal user device 106-A andthe one or several other user devices 106-B can be communicatinglyconnected to the content management server 102 and/or to the navigationsystem 122. Similarly, the supervisor device 110 can include a personalsupervisor device 110-A and one or several other supervisor devices110-B. In some embodiments, one or both of the personal supervisordevices 110-A and the one or several other supervisor devices 110-B canbe communicatingly connected to the content management server 102 and/orto the navigation system 122.

In some embodiments, the content distribution network can send one ormore alerts to one or more user devices 106 and/or one or moresupervisor devices 110 via, for example, the communication network 120.In some embodiments, the receipt of the alert can result in thelaunching of an application within the receiving device, and in someembodiments, the alert can include a link that, when selected, launchesthe application or navigates a web-browser of the device of the selectorof the link to page or portal associated with the alert. In someembodiments, the prompt can comprise an alert configured to triggeractivation of the I/O subsystem of a user device 106 of a follow-upuser, also referred to herein as a second user device, to provide anotification of the exceeded threshold

In some embodiments, for example, the providing of this alert caninclude the identification of one or several user devices 106 and/orstudent-user accounts associated with the student-user and/or one orseveral supervisor devices 110 and/or supervisor-user accountsassociated with the supervisor-user. After these one or several devices106, 110 and/or accounts have been identified, the providing of thisalert can include determining an active device of the devices 106, 110based on determining which of the devices 106, 110 and/or accounts areactively being used, and then providing the alert to that active device.

Specifically, if the user is actively using one of the devices 106, 110such as the other user device 106-B and the other supervisor device110-B, and/or accounts, the alert can be provided to the user via thatother device 106-B, 110-B and/or account that is actively being used. Ifthe user is not actively using any other device 106-B, 110-B and/oraccount, a personal device 106-A, 110-A device, such as a smart phone ortablet, can be identified and the alert can be provided to this personaldevice 106-A, 110-A. In some embodiments, the alert can include code todirect the default device to provide an indicator of the received alertsuch as, for example, an aural, tactile, or visual indicator of receiptof the alert.

In some embodiments, the recipient device 106, 110 of the alert canprovide an indication of receipt of the alert. In some embodiments, thepresentation of the alert can include the control of the I/O subsystem526 to, for example, provide an aural, tactile, and/or visual indicatorof the alert and/or of the receipt of the alert. In some embodiments,this can include controlling a screen of the supervisor device 110 todisplay the alert, data contained in alert and/or an indicator of thealert.

With reference now to FIG. 8, a flowchart illustrating one embodiment ofa process 650 for evaluation of one or several portfolios and/orartifacts is provided. In some embodiments, the artifact can compriseany work product and can include, for example, digital work product. Insome embodiments, the digital work product can include written workproduct and/or recorded work product which can include sound and/orvideo recordings. In some embodiments, the process 650 can be performedby the Content Distribution Network 100 and/or components of the ContentDistribution Network 100. Embodiments of systems and methods forevaluation of one or several portfolios are disclosed in U.S.application Ser. No. 14/252,402, filed on Apr. 14, 2014, the entirety ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

The process 650 begins at block 652 wherein a portfolio is received. Insome embodiments, for example, the portfolio can be received by and/orfrom a component of the Content Distribution Network 100, and in oneembodiment, the portfolio can be received from one of the components ofthe CDN 100 including, for example, one of the user devices 106, thedatabase server 104 including, for example, the user profile database301, the content library database 303, the external data source 311. Insome embodiments, this work product can be generated by a user, and insome embodiments, this work product can be collected by one of thecomponents of the CDN 100 including, for example, the user device 106.In some embodiments, after the portfolio has been received at, forexample, the user device 106, the portfolio can be stored within thedatabase server 104 including, for example, the user profile database301, the content library database 303, the external data source 311.

After the portfolio has been received, the process 650 proceeds to block654 wherein the artifacts are provided. In some embodiments, forexample, the artifacts can be provided to the user via one of the userdevices 106 or the supervisor device 110. In some embodiments, theportfolio can be authored by a user via a first user device 106 and canbe provided in block 654 to a second user device 106 and/or to thesupervisor device 110. In some embodiments, the user device 106 and/orthe supervisor device 110 can provide the artifacts to the user I/Osubsystem 526, and specifically via a user interface operated by the I/Osubsystem 526. The artifacts can be retrieved from the one or severalportfolios stored within the database server 104. In some embodiments,for example, the server 102 can query the database server 104 for one orseveral stored artifacts. In some embodiments, one or several artifactscan be selected from the database server 104, and can be provided to theuser via the I/O subsystem 526 of the supervisor device 110 and/or ofthe user device 106.

After the artifacts have been provided, the process 650 proceeds toblock 656 wherein a tag is received and/or applied. In some embodiments,for example, the tag can be received via one of the user devices 106and/or the supervisor device 110, and can be stored in the databaseserver 104. In one embodiment, a tag can be applied in that the tag, andthe data relevant to the tag are stored in one of the databases of thedatabase server 104. In one embodiment, for example, the tag canidentify a portion of the artifact, can identify a portion of theevaluation criteria relevant to the portion of the artifact, can includea note relating to the evaluation criteria and/or to the tagged portionof the artifact, and/or can identify the user adding, removing, and/orediting the tag.

After the tag has been received, the process 650 proceeds to block 658wherein the evaluation is applied. In some embodiments, for example, theevaluation can be applied based on the tags associated with the artifactand/or stored in the database server 104. In some embodiments, theevaluation can be applied based on the number of tags associated withone or several of the evaluation criteria and/or sub criteria and/orbased on information relating to the evaluation criteria and/or subcriteria that do not have a related tag and/or have fewer related tagsthan a threshold value. The application of the evaluation can, in someembodiments, be received from the user via the user device 106 or thesupervisor device 110 and/or generated by the processor 102.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methodsfor applying comments to content. This content can include, one orseveral audio files, video files, image files, text files, augmentedreality files, virtual reality files, simulation or simulation files, 3Dand/or 4D video, tables, spreadsheets, graphs, musical notation files,and the like. In some embodiments, the application of comments to a filecan include providing a representation of the content to the commenter,receiving an indication of placement of the comment from the commenter,and generating links between a comment database, a content database,and/or evaluation database, receiving comment content, and generating anentry in the comment database comprising the comment content. In someembodiments, the indication of placement of a comment can include, forexample, one or several timestamps, one or several positions on ascrubber associated with the content, one or several X, Y coordinateswithin an image associated with the content, or the like. In someembodiments disclosed herein the application of comments to a file isdone via links between a comment database and the file such that thefile itself is not altered by the applied comments. This can,advantageously, illuminate and/or simplify file management problems thatcan arise when multiple different individuals attempt to simultaneouslyapply comments to the file.

With reference now to FIG. 9, a flowchart illustrating one embodiment ofa process 900 for automatic generation of independent, linked commentdatabases is shown. The process 900 can be performed by all or portionsof the content distribution network 100 including for example, one orseveral servers 102. The process begins a block 902 wherein content isreceived. This content, also referred to herein as the file, cancomprise audio content, video content, image content, text content,augmented reality content, virtual reality content, simulation orsimulation content, 3D and/or 4D video content, table or spreadsheetcontent, graph content, musical notation content, or the like. In someembodiments, the content can comprise different combinations of audiocontent, video content, image content, text content, augmented realitycontent, virtual reality content, simulation or simulation content, 3Dand/or 4D video content, table or spreadsheet content, graph content,musical notation content, or the like. The content can be received bythe server 102 from another component of the content distributionnetwork 100. In some embodiments, for example, the content can begenerated by the user at one of the user devices 106 and can becommunicated to the server 102 via the communication network 120.

After the content has been received, the process 900 proceeds to block904 where user information is received. In some embodiments, the userinformation can be information identifying the author of the contentreceived in block 902. This can include, for example, the name of theuser, a username, a unique user identifier, password, biometric userinformation, a user picture, or the like. The user information can bereceived initially by the user device 106, and specifically by the I/Osubsystem 526 of the user device 106 from the user. The user informationcan then be received by the one or several servers 102 from the userdevice 106.

After the user information has been received, the process 900 proceedsto block 906 wherein content information is received. In someembodiments, the content information can identify one or severalattributes of the content and can include, for example, contentmetadata. In some embodiments, the content information can identify anassociation between the content and one or several courses, assignments,classes, training programs, decrees, majors, schools, universities, orthe like. In one embodiment, for example, the content information canidentify, a school, a course or section, a teacher, and an assignment.The content information can be received from the user by the user device106, and specifically by the I/O subsystem 526 of the user device 106from the user. The content information can then be received by the oneor several servers 102 from the user device 106 via the communicationsnetwork 120.

After the content information has been received, the process 900proceeds to block 908 wherein the content is stored. In someembodiments, the content can be stored in the database server 104 andspecifically in one of the databases of the database server 104 such as,for example, user profile database 301, the content library database303, and/or external data source 311. In some embodiments, the contentcan be stored in the content sub database within the content librarydatabase 303. In some embodiments, the storing of content furtherincludes the storing of content data and/or of metadata associated withthe content including, for example, the user information received inblock 900 for and/or the content information received in block 906.

After the content has been stored, the process 900 proceeds to block 910wherein one or several relevant evaluation criteria are identified. Insome embodiments, this can include, for example, identifying one orseveral metrics from the evaluation metric database in the evaluationdatabase 308 relevant to the content. This determination can be madebased on the content metadata identifying, for example, the course,section, assignment, or the like. In some embodiments the relevantevaluation criteria and/or relevant evaluation metric can be identifiedbased on metric metadata associated with metric stored in the evaluationmetric database. In some embodiments, for example, information from thecontent metadata can be compared to information from metric metadata todetermine a match between aspects of the content metadata and aspectsthe metric data such as, for example, a match between course or section,teacher, assignment, or the like. If the content metadata, or certainportions of the content data matches metric metadata, or certainportions of the metric metadata, then the evaluation metric associatedwith the metric metadata is identified as the relevant evaluation metricor evaluation criteria.

After the relevant evaluation criteria have been identified, the process900 proceeds to block 912 wherein a comment database is generated. Insome embodiments, the generation of the content database can includegeneration of a sub database within the content database for receivingand storing comments relevant to the content received in block 902. Insome embodiments, this sub database can be specific to the comment,specific to the commenter, or the like.

After the comment database has been generated, the process 900 proceedsto blocks 914 and 916 wherein pointers from the comment database to therelevant evaluation criteria identified in block 910 and/or pointersfrom the comment database to the content received in block 902 aregenerated. In some embodiments, this can include linking the subdatabase within the content database with one or both of the contentdatabase in the evaluation metric database. Specifically, this caninclude linking the sub database within the content database with one orboth of the content received in block 902 and the relevant evaluationcriteria or evaluation metric identified in block 912. In someembodiments, these links can comprise one or several pointers.

After the generations of pointers as described in one or both of blocks914 and 916, the process 900 advances to block 918 and proceeds to block952 of FIG. 10.

With reference now to FIG. 10, a flowchart illustrating one embodimentof a process 950 for automatically receiving and storing comments isshown. In some embodiments, the process 950 can be performed by all orportions of the content distribution network 100. The process 950 can beperformed subsequent to the completion of the process 900 or inconnection with the process 900. In some embodiments, the process 950can allow the receiving and storing of comments simultaneously frommultiple commenters. In some such embodiments, and as described herein,the content is not downloaded to a user device 106 or a supervisordevice 110, but is rather streamingly provided to any user device 106 orsupervisor device 110 requesting said content. Further, as any receivedcomments are stored in a comment database independent from the content,such comments do not change the content which thus allows simultaneouscommenting by multiple users and/or supervisors.

The process 950 begins a block 952 wherein assignment data is received.In some embodiments, the assignment data can specify, for example, oneor several pieces of content and/or one or several evaluation criteria.The assignment data can be received by the user device 106 from the useror by the supervisor device 110 from the supervisor. The assignment datacan also be received by the one or several servers 102 from the userdevice 106 or from the supervisor device 110.

After the assignment data has been received, the process 950 proceeds toblock 954 wherein a media identifier, also referred to herein as acontent identifier is received. In some embodiments, the contentidentifier can comprise the identification of one or several pieces ofcontent from the pieces of content stored in the content database of thecontent library database 303. The media identifier can be received bythe user device 106 from the user or by the supervisor device 110 fromthe supervisor. The media identifier can be further received by the oneor several servers 102 from the user device 106 or from the supervisordevice 110.

After the media identifier has been received, the process 950 proceedsto block 956 wherein a commenter identifier is received. In someembodiments, the commenter identifier can identify a user or supervisoras a commenter for a commenting session. In some embodiments, thecommenter identifier can comprise a username, the name of the commenter,a unique user identifier, password, biometric information, a picture, orthe like. The commenter identifier can be received by the user device106 from the user or by the supervisor device 110 from the supervisor.In some embodiments, a single commenter identifier can be received, andin some embodiments, multiple commenter identifiers can be received.

After the commenter identifiers have been received, the process 950proceeds to block 958 wherein a commenting interface is launched. Insome embodiments, the commenting interface can include one or severalfields for providing the content and/or displaying the content to thecommenter which can be, for example, the user of the user device 106and/or the supervisor using the supervisor device 110. In someembodiments, the commenting interface can include a display panelconfigured to display the content, one or several control panels suchas, for example, one or several scrubbers, configured to control displayof the content, a comment panel configured to receive the comment and/ordata relevant to the comment, or the like. In some embodiments, thecommenting interface can further display all or portions of theevaluation metric including one or several sub portions of theevaluation metric. In some embodiments, the launching of the commentinginterface as depicted in block 958 can include the generating andsending of one or several control signals from one or several servers102 to the devices 106, 110 associated with the users having useridentifiers received in block 956. In some embodiments, these one orseveral control signals can trigger the launch of the commentinginterface on the recipient devices 106, 110.

After the commenting interface is then launched, the process 950proceeds to block 960 wherein the content is provided. In someembodiments, the content can be provided to the devices 106, 110 havinglaunched the commenting interface. In some embodiments, the content canbe streamed to these devices 106, 110 such that no download of thecontent is performed. In some embodiments, the content can be providedto the devices 106, 110 by the one or several servers 102 via, forexample, the communications network 120.

After the content has been provided, the process 950 proceeds to block962 wherein one or several comment identifiers are received. In someembodiments, the comment identifier can be received subsequent to theuser manipulation of the commenting interface to indicate an intent toprovide a comment. In some embodiments this can include the pressing ofone or several buttons or the manipulation of one or several features,virtual or real, on the device 106, 110 or generated as part of thecommenting interface.

After the comment identifier has been received, the process 950 proceedsto block 964 wherein a time stamp and/or location are identified. Insome embodiments, this step can include the identification of a portionof the content relevant to the comment. In some embodiments, forexample, the manipulation of the feature resulting in the generation ofthe comment identifier of block 962 can further trigger theidentification of a time stamp and/or the identification of locationwithin the content such as, for example identification of X, Ycoordinates of one or several locations within the content. In someembodiments, this automatically identified timestamp and/orautomatically identified location can be modified by one or several userinputs. In some embodiments, for example, the automatically identifiedtimestamp can be modified so as to designate a portion of audio or videocontent with a starting point such as, for example, starting timestampand an endpoint such as, for example, an end timestamp. In someembodiments, the automatically identified timestamp and/or automaticallyidentified location information can be generated by the one or severalservers 102 and/or the devices 106, 110.

At block 966, an evaluation criteria identifier, also referred to hereinas a tag, is received. In some embodiments, the evaluation criteriaidentifier can identify the evaluation metric and/or the sub portions ofthe evaluation metric for applying to the content. In some embodiments,for example, the commenter can input an indicator identifying one orseveral sub portions of the evaluation metric relevant to the comment.This indicator can be input by the user to one of the devices 106, 110and can be received by the one or several servers from the devices 106,110.

After the evaluation criteria identifier has been received, the process950 proceeds to block 968 wherein comment content is received. In someembodiments, comment content can comprise the body of the commentprovided by the commenter. The comment content can include, for example,one or several text string, words, sentences, audio or video clips orfiles, or the like. The comment content can be provided by the user tothe devices 106, 110 and can be received by the one or several servers102 from those devices 106, 110.

After the comment content has been received, the process 950 proceeds toblock 970 wherein the comment is stored in the comment database. In someembodiments, this can include generating an entry within the commentdatabase corresponding to the comment, and specifically generating anentry within the sub database of the comment database, which subdatabase is specific to the content or to the commenter. In someembodiments, the entry can be linked to the piece of content in thecontent database, which piece of content is associated with the comment,and/or in some embodiments, the entry can be linked to the portion ofthe evaluation metric identified in block 966. In some embodiments,these links can comprise one or several pointers to one or both of thecontent database within the evaluation metric database.

After the comment has been stored in the comment database, the process950 proceeds to decision state 972 wherein it is determined if thecommenting process is done. In some embodiments, this determination canbe made by the one or several servers 102 in response to inputs receivedfrom the devices 106, 110. In some embodiments, for example, at thecompletion of the commenting session, the user can manipulate a portionof the commenting interface to indicate completion of commenting. Thismanipulation of the portion of the commenting interface can result inthe generation of one or several electrical signals that can be sent to,and received by, the one or several servers 102. These electricalsignals can indicate completion of the commenting. If it is determinedthat commenting is completed, then the process 950 proceeds to block 974and terminates, if it is determined that the commenting is not complete,then the process 950 returns to block 960. In some embodiments, thisdetermination of the completion of the commenting can be made for eachcommenter, and thus while the process 950 may terminate for onecommenter, the process 950 may continue for other commenters.

With reference now to FIG. 11, a flowchart illustrating one embodimentof a process 1000 for providing comments to a user such as an author ofone or several pieces of content is shown. The process 1000 can beperformed by the content distribution network or components thereof. Theprocess 1000 can be performed subsequent to the performing of process950. The process 1000 begins at block 1002 wherein one or severalcomments are received. In some embodiments, the one or several commentscan be received according to process 900 and/or process 950.

After the one or several comets have been received, the process 1000proceeds to block 1004 wherein one or several comment tags areidentified. In some embodiments, the comment tags can identify one orseveral sub portions of the evaluation metric identified by thecommenter as relevant to the comment. In some embodiments, the commenttags can be identified via links between the comment and the evaluationmetric database, and specifically by pointers linking the comment to subportions of the evaluation metric.

At block 1006, the process 1000 applies Natural Language Processing(NLP) to comment content. In some embodiments, this can include parsing,part of speech tagging, morphological segmentation, stemming, lexicalanalysis, natural language understanding, relationship extraction,sentiment analysis, or the like. In some embodiments, the NLP can beapplied by the one or several servers 102 and can determine whether thecomment content is positive or negative. After the NLP is then appliedto the comment content, the process 1000 proceeds to block 1010 whereinthe comments are categorized. In some embodiments, the comments can becategorized according to one or several tags associated with thecomments, according to the results of the NLP analysis, according to thecommenter, the class or course, the assignment, or the like.

At block 1012 of the process 1000, the comment request is received. Insome embodiments, the comment request can be received from a user by theuser device 106 and/or the supervisor device 110. The comment requestcan identify one or several pieces of content and can requestpresentation of comments associated with those one or several pieces ofcontent. In some embodiments, the comment request can be received fromthe user device 106 and/or the supervisor device 110 by the one orseveral servers 102. The comment request can, in some embodiments,originate from the author of the piece of content for which comments arerequested, from a reviewer of the piece of content for which thecomments are requested, or from a reviewer of the requested comments. Insome embodiments, the comment request can include informationidentifying a requested subcategory of comments received for one orseveral pieces of content. In some embodiments, for example, thissubcategory can correspond to one or several tags associated with thecomments, to one or several authors of the comments, to the positivityor negativity of the comments, or the like.

After the comment request is received, the process 1000 proceeds toblock 1014 wherein one or several relevant comments are identified. Insome embodiments, these identified relevant comments can be commentsrequested by the comment request. In some embodiments, these relevantcomments can be comments associated with one or several pieces ofcontent. The relevant comments can be identified by the one or severalservers 102.

After the relevant comments have been identified, the process 1000proceeds to block 1016, wherein comment categorization is identified. Insome embodiments, this can include identifying the some or all of therelevant comments and/or comments belonging to the requested subcategoryof comments specified in the comment request. In some embodiments, thecomment categorization can be identified according to data and/ormetadata associated with the comments, according to the NLP analysisperformed on the comments, according to links between the comments, thecontent database, and/or the evaluation metrics, or the like. In someembodiments, the identification of the comment categorization caninclude the matching of the subcategory of requested comments with thecategorization applied to the comments in block 1010. The commentcategorization can be identified by the one or several servers 102.

After the identifying of the comment categorization, the process 1000proceeds to block 1018, wherein comments are provided to the user whorequested comments in block 1012. In some embodiments, the comments cancomprise the requested comments, the comments associated with one orseveral pieces of content, and/or a subcategory of the commentsassociated with one or several pieces of content. In some embodiments,the comments can be provided to the user via the comment interface, andspecifically, the comments can be provided to the user device 106 and/orthe supervisor device 110 by the one or several servers 102, and thecomments can be provided to the user by the user device 106 and/or thesupervisor device 110 via the I/O subsystem 526 operating the commentinterface. In some embodiments, the comments can be provided to the userin the form of one or several icons overlaying all or portions of thecontent and/or overlaying all or portions of an icon, image, or featureassociated with the content. In some embodiments in which the contentcomprises an audio or video file, 3D or 4D video, a virtual reality oraugmented reality file, a simulation or simulation video, the commentscan be provided in the form of one or several icons overlaying a scrubbar displayed as part of the commenting interface, and in embodiments inwhich the content comprises an image file or text file, the comments canbe provided in the form of one or several icons overlaying the relevantportion of the image or text. In some embodiments, the one or severalicons corresponding to comments can be active such that uponmanipulation, the content portion(s) associated with the comment isprovided to the user and/or the comment and/or the comment content isprovided to the user.

After the comments are provided, the process 1000 proceeds to block1020, wherein a content icon manipulation signal is received. In someembodiments, this can include a request for content associated with oneor several comments and/or a request for the comment and/or the commentcontent. In some embodiments, for example, the user can manipulate anicon associated with a comment by, for example, hovering the cursor overthe icon and selecting the icon. In some embodiments, the manipulationof this icon can result in the generation of an electrical signalindicating manipulation of the icon, which signal can trigger theproviding of content associated with the comment and/or the providing ofthe comment and/or the comment content. In some embodiments themanipulation signal can be received at the user device 106 and/or thesupervisor device 110 from the user via the I/O subsystem 526, and themanipulation signal can be received by the one or several servers 102from the user device 106 and/or the supervisor device 110.

After the icon manipulation signal has been received, the process 1000proceeds to block 1022, wherein the content corresponding to the iconmanipulation signal is requested and provided. In some embodiments, thereceipt of the icon manipulation signal can automatically result in thequerying of the comment database for links between the comment databaseand the content database. When identified, these links can be followedand the portion of content connected by these links can be provided tothe user. In some embodiments in which the content comprises an audio orvideo file, the following of these links can include the automaticmoving of the scrub bar along the playback line to the location ofcontent corresponding to the link. After the content has been provided,the process 1000 can terminate, if an additional icon manipulationsignal has been received, the process 1000 can return to block 1020, orif an additional comment request has been received, the process 1000 canreturn to block 1012.

With reference now to FIG. 12, a flowchart illustrating one embodimentof a process 1100 for displaying comments is shown. The process 1100 canbe performed by the content distribution network 100 or componentsthereof. The process 1100 can be performed as a part of, or in the placeof the steps of blocks 1012-1018 of FIG. 11. The process 1100 begins atblock 1102, wherein a comment request is received. In some embodiments,the comment request can be received from a user by the user device 106and/or the supervisor device 110. The comment request can identify oneor several pieces of content and can request presentation of commentsassociated with those one or several pieces of content. In someembodiments, the comment request can be received from the user device106 and/or the supervisor device 110 by the one or several servers 102.The comment request can, in some embodiments, originate from the authorof the piece of content for which comments are requested, from areviewer of the piece of content for which the comments are requested,or from a reviewer of the requested comments. In some embodiments, thecomment request can include information identifying a requestedsubcategory of comments received for one or several pieces of content.In some embodiments, for example, this subcategory can correspond to oneor several tags associated with the comments, to one or several authorsof the comments, to the positivity or negativity of the comments, or thelike.

After the comment request is received, the process 1100 proceeds block1104 wherein relevant content to the comment request is identified. Insome embodiments, this relevant content can be identified based oninformation contained within the request. This information can, forexample, identify the course, section, assignment, teacher, or the likefor which comment data is being requested. In some embodiments, therelevant content can be identified by comparing metadata associated withpieces of content to data contained in the content request. Pieces ofcontent having metadata matching the data contained in the contentrequest can be identified as relevant, whereas pieces of content lackingmetadata matching the data contained in the content request can beidentified as irrelevant. In some embodiments, the identification ofrelevant content can be performed by the one or several servers 102.

After the relevant content has been identified, the process 1100proceeds to block 1106, wherein a review interface is generated. In someembodiments, the generation of the review interface can include thegenerating and sending of a signal from the one or several servers 102to the user device 106 and/or the supervisor device 110 requestingand/or directing the I/O subsystem 526 to launch the review interface.In some embodiments, the review interface can be similar and/oridentical to the commenting interface. The review interface can includeone or several fields for reviewing the content, for displaying commentsassociated with the content, for displaying all or portions of theevaluation metric, or the like.

After the review interface has been generated, the process 1100 proceedsto block 1108, wherein the content scrubber, also referred to herein asthe content scrub bar, the scrub bar, or the scrubber, is generated. Insome embodiments, the content scrubber can be generated with the reviewinterface as a part of the review interface. The scrub bar is moveablealong a playback line to control a location within audio or videocontent. In some embodiments, the generation of the content scrubber canbe directed by the one or several servers 102 as part of the request orcommand from the one or several servers 102 to launch the reviewinterface, and in some embodiments, the generation of the contentscrubber can be directed by the one or several servers 102 independentof the request or command from the one or several servers 102 to launchthe review interface.

After the content scrubber is generated, the process 1100 proceeds toblock 1110, wherein comments associated with the relevant content ofblock 1104 is identified and one or several characteristics of thosecomments are identified. In some embodiments, this can includeidentifying content associated with the relevant content based on thelinks between the comments and the content, and specifically linkingcomments in the comment database with pieces of content in the contentdatabase. In some embodiments, one or several attributes of the relevantcomments can be identified according to, for example, the NLP analysis,tags associated with the comments, comment metadata, or the like. Insome embodiments, the comments can be classified according to at leastone of: author; tag(s); relevant evaluation metric or evaluation metricsub-portion; and positivity or negativity. The comments can becharacterized by the one or several servers 102.

After the comments have been characterized and/or after one or severalcomment characteristics have been identified, the process 1100 proceedsto block 1112, wherein a characteristic visual identifier is generatedfor some or all of the comments. In some embodiments, the characteristicvisual identifier can comprise an icon having a size, text, value,color, pattern, or the like to allow visual identification of relatedcomments. In some embodiments, for example, comments having the sameauthor can have a same or similar color, or a same or similar pattern.In some embodiments, for example positive comments can have a same orsimilar color or a same or similar pattern, and negative comments canhave a same or similar color and a same or similar pattern. In someembodiments, the characteristic visual identifier can be generated bythe one or several servers 102.

After the characteristic visual identifier has been generated, theprocess 1100 proceeds to block 1114, wherein the visual identifiersassociated with the comments are overlaid on all or portions of thecontent, or more specifically are overlaid on the scrubber oralternatively are overlaid in the window within which the content isprovided. In some embodiments, for example, the visual identifiers canbe overlaid on the scrubber to identify portions of the content alongthe playback line relevant to the comments. In some embodiments, forexample, the visual identifier associated with a comment can be overlaidon the scrubber bar at the location along the playback linecorresponding to the time of one or several time stamps associated withthe comment. In some embodiments, the comments can be displayed oroverlaid on the scrubber bar in the review interface. In someembodiments, the display of the comments on the scrubber can include thegeneration and sending of one or several control signals from the one orseveral servers 102 to the I/O subsystem 526 of the user device and/orthe supervisor device 110.

With reference now to FIGS. 13 through 16, illustrations of embodimentsof a user interface and specifically of the commenting interface 1200are shown. The interface 1200 can be generated by the user device 106and/or the supervisor device 110, and specifically by the I/O subsystem526 of the same. The interface 1200 can be configured to provideinformation to the user of the user device 106 or of the supervisordevice 110 and/or to receive inputs from the user. The user interface1200 can comprise one or several fields, windows, manipulable fields, orthe like. In some embodiments, the user interface 1200 can comprise aselection view 1202.

The selection view 1202 can include a content window 1204 displayingcontent icons 1206 visually representing selectable pieces of content orselectable groups of pieces of content. In some embodiments, the contenticons 1206 can be linked to the content database. The content window1204 can further include one or several content data displays 1208. Thecontent data displays 1208 can comprise one or several text strings. Insome embodiments, each of the content icons 1206 is associated with acontent data display 1208 in a pairwise relationship, and the textstrings in the content data display 1208 can identify one or severalattributes of the one or several pieces of content associated with thecontent data display 1208 and that therewith associated content icon1206. In some embodiments, these one or several attributes can include,for example, course details, course states, section ID, course ID, orthe like. In some embodiments, one or both of a content icon 1206 andthe content data display 1208 can be a manipulable, active component ofthe user interface 1200 to allow the user, via manipulation of the oneor both of the content icons 1206 in the content data display 1208, toaccess the one or several pieces of content therewith associated.

The content window 1204 can further include a scrubber bar 1210, alsoreferred to herein as a scrubber 1210 or a scrubber bar 1210. Thescrubber 1210 can include one or several control features including aplay feature 1214 that can allow the starting in the stopping of theplaying of one or several pieces of content, a shuttle 1216 that ismovable along a playback line 1218 to control a displayed positionand/or a played position within the one or several pieces of content, aclock feature 1220 configured to display time data indicative of aposition within the one or several pieces of content, a volume control1222, and a window size control 1224 configured to allow the expansionor contraction of the content window 1204.

The selection view 1202 can further include an author window 1226. Insome embodiments, the author window 1226 can identify one or severalauthors of one or several pieces of content associated with one orseveral of the content icons 1206 displayed in the content window 1204.In some embodiments, these one or several authors identified in theauthor window 1226 can be groups of users such as, for example one orseveral groups of users corresponding to students in a course, class,section, or the like.

The one or several authors can each be identified via an author icon1228 which can include, for example, an icon indicative of the authorassociated with the author icon 1228 and a text string identifying theauthor associated with the author icon 1228. In some embodiments, theauthor window 1226 can segregate author icons into a first group 1230and a second group 1232. In some embodiments, the first group 1230 caninclude author icons 1228 identifying authors that have submitted one orseveral pieces of content, and the second group 1232 can include one orseveral author icons 1228 identifying authors that have not yetcommitted one or several pieces of content. In some embodiments, thesefirst and second groups 1230, 1232 can be specific to one of the contentitems 1206 and therewith associated one or several pieces of content orcan be relevant to a group of content items 1206 and that therewithassociated one or several pieces of content.

With reference now to FIG. 14, one embodiment of the commenting view1234 of the user interface 1200 is shown. The commenting view 1234includes a content/comment interface 1236 comprising the scrub bar 1210and a viewing window 1238. The viewing window 1238 can display one orseveral pieces of content to the user. In some embodiments in which theone or several pieces of content can comprise image, text, or videocontent, the one or several pieces of content can be displayed and/orprovided to the user in the viewing window 1238. In embodiments in whichthe one or several pieces of content comprise audio content, the viewingwindow 1238 can remain blank or can display one or several images,animations, or videos that are related or unrelated to the audiocontent.

The scrub bar 1210 can control the display of the one or several of thepieces of content in the viewing window 1238 and the navigation throughthose one or several pieces of content in the viewing window 1238. Thecontent/comment interface 1236 can further include a comment field 1240that can be manipulable to allow the providing of one or severalcomments associated with the piece of content currently being displayedin the viewing window 1238. In some embodiments, the comment field 1240can comprise a button manipulable to allow entry of a comment, a fieldin which one or several text strings can be entered, or the like.

The content/comment interface 1236 can further include a comment log1242 that can display all or portions of one or several comments, or anidentifier representative of one or several comments. In someembodiments, the comments can be displayed within the comment log 1242in chronological order according to how the one or several comments werereceived, or according to the position within the piece of content withwhich they are associated. In some embodiments, comments displayed inthe comment log 1242 can include an identifier of the source of thecomment such as, for example, one or several of: and identifier of theauthor of the comment; an identifier of the time and/or date that thecomment was received; an identifier of the amount of time elapsed sincereceipt of the comment; and an icon representative of the author of thecomment.

The commenting view 1234 can further include a metric viewer 1244. Themetric viewer 1244 can display information relating to an evaluationmetric for applying to the piece of content displayed in thecontent/comment interface 1236 and information relating to theapplication of the evaluation metric to the piece of content displayedin the content/comment interface 1236. In some embodiments, theevaluation metric can be displayed such that one or several metricsubcomponents are displayed. As depicted in FIG. 14, the evaluationmetric subcomponents can be each displayed via a metric subcomponentwindow 1246 that can include a metric input feature 1248 such as, forexample, a slider. In some embodiments, each of the metric subcomponentwindows 1246 can be configured to allow a user input indicating, forexample, a value characterizing the application of the metricsubcomponent to the associated piece of content. In some embodiments,the values for a plurality of metric subcomponents can be aggregated anddisplayed in an aggregation field 1250.

With reference now to FIG. 15, one embodiment of the commenting view1234 during receipt of a comment is shown. As seen in FIG. 15, afteractuation of the comment field 1240, a comment panel 1250 can bedisplayed in the commenting view 1234. The comment panel 1250 caninclude one or several metric features 1252. The one or several metricfeatures 1252 can be manipulated by the user to indicate a relationshipbetween the comment and one or several portions of the evaluationmetric, and specifically between the comment and one or several metricsubcomponents. The comment panel 1250 can include a portion feature 1254that can link the comment to a portion of the content. In someembodiments, the portion feature 1254 can allow the user to enter one orseveral times or time ranges and/or one or several X, Y coordinatesidentifying the portion of the piece of content to which the comment isrelevant. In some embodiments, for example, when the piece of content isa video file or an audio file, the user can manipulate the portionfeature 1254 and one or several timestamps corresponding to thebeginning or end of the portion of the piece of content relevant to thecomment can be identified. In some embodiments, the user can edit and/orenter times corresponding to the beginning or end of the portion of thepiece of content relevant to the comment. The comment panel 1250 caninclude a comment entry window 1256 in which the comment content can beentered, and in some embodiments, the comment panel 1250 can include oneor several buttons 1258 that can be manipulated to cancel and/or discardthe comment and/or to save the comment.

With reference now to FIG. 16, one embodiment of the commenting view1234 after receipt of a comment is shown. As seen in FIG. 16, threecomments are displayed in the comment log 1242. In some embodiments,these comments in the comment log 1242 include an identifier of thesource of the comment. This identifier can be, for example, one orseveral of: and identifier of the author of the comment; an identifierof the time and/or date that the comment was received; an identifier ofthe amount of time elapsed since receipt of the comment; and an iconrepresentative of the author of the comment. As further seen in FIG. 16,the metric viewer includes content tags 1260. In some embodiments, acontent tag can be displayed in a metric subcomponent window 1246 when acomment relevant to that metric subcomponent has been identified via,for example, the one or several metric features 1252 of the commentpanel 1250. In some embodiments, the content tag 1260 can furtherinclude a character such as a numeral indicating the number of commentsrelevant to the metric subcomponent.

In some embodiments, the user interface 1200 can further include one orseveral comment filter features 1262. In some embodiments, the commentfilter features 1262 can allow the user to input one or severalfiltration parameters wherewith the comments displayed in the commentlog 1242 can be filtered. These filtration parameters can relate to, forexample, metric subcomponents associated with comments, comment authors,date and/or time of comment receipt, comment age (amount of lapsed timesince receipt of a comment), comment content as ascertained via NLPanalysis, or the like.

In some embodiments, a user can select one of the content icons 1206 inthe selection view 1202 of the user interface 1200. The user interface1200 can update to display the commenting view 1234. The user canmanipulate one or several features of the scrub bar 1210 to cause thedisplay of the content in the viewing window 1238. The user can thenmanipulate the comment field 1240, which can cause the display of thecomment panel 1250. The user can manipulate one or several of the metricfeatures 1252 to identify the relationship between the comment and themetric subcomponents that can be displayed in the metric viewer 1244.The user can manipulate the portion feature 1254 to automaticallyidentify the portion of the content relevant to the comment and/or canmanually enter or identify the portion of the content relevant to thecomment. The user can then input comment content in the comment entrywindow 1256 and can store the comment by manipulation of one of the oneor several buttons 1258 to save the comment. The comment can be saved inthe content database and pointers linking the comment to the therewithassociated metric subcomponents and the identified portions of thecontent can be generated. In some embodiments, the user interface 1200can update the metric viewer 1244 to include one or several content tags1260 identifying the user manipulation of the metric features 1252indicating the relationship between the comment and the metricsubcomponents, or the user interface 1200 can update the metric viewer1244 to update numerals indicative of the number of comments relevant tothe metric subcomponents. The user interface 1200 can be further updatedto include the new comment in the comment log 1242 and/or to display anindicator of the comment in the viewing window 1238 and/or on the scrubbar 1210.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosed embodimentscan also be used. Specific details are given in the above description toprovide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it isunderstood that the embodiments may be practiced without these specificdetails. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms,structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail inorder to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means describedabove may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques,blocks, steps, and means may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitsmay be implemented within one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described above, and/or a combination thereof.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a swim diagram, a dataflow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although adepiction may describe the operations as a sequential process, many ofthe operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. Inaddition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process isterminated when its operations are completed, but could have additionalsteps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method,a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription languages, and/or any combination thereof. When implementedin software, firmware, middleware, scripting language, and/or microcode,the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may bestored in a machine readable medium such as a storage medium. A codesegment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, afunction, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, asoftware package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions,data structures, and/or program statements. A code segment may becoupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/orreceiving information, data, arguments, parameters, and/or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a memory. Memory may be implemented within the processor orexternal to the processor. As used herein the term “memory” refers toany type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or otherstorage medium and is not to be limited to any particular type of memoryor number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more memories for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices, and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information. The term“machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to, portable orfixed storage devices, optical storage devices, and/or various otherstorage mediums capable of storing that contain or carry instruction(s)and/or data.

While the principles of the disclosure have been described above inconnection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas limitation on the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for automated aggregated content commentgeneration, the system comprising: memory including: a content databasecomprising content providable to a user, and a comment database, whereinthe comment databases linked to the content database; and at least oneserver configured to: provide a representation of a piece of content toa plurality of users, receive a first plurality of comments from theplurality of users, wherein each comment of the first plurality ofcomments identities a portion of the piece of content, wherein eachcomment, of the first plurality of comments is associated with: thepiece of content, generated by a user input received by an instructor ofa learning course, and wherein the piece of content comprises a video oraudio stream associated with the instructor or with the learning course,an instruction or criteria used in evaluating the piece of content, anda corresponding rubric associated with the piece of content, generate anentry in the comment database: linked to the plurality of users and thepiece of content, comprising the first plurality of comments, andcomprising a plurality of metadata associating each of the firstplurality of comments with the learning course or the instructor, andthe instruction or criteria; store the first plurality of comments inthe entry in the comment database, and categorize the first plurality ofcomments according to attributes of the first plurality of comments thatidentify the instructor or the learning course.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to: receive acomment request for return of comments, the request comprising aspecified category; identify, in response to the received commentrequest, at least one comment having the specified category in thecomment database; and provide the identified at least one comment andthe corresponding rubric to the identified at least one comment to theplurality of users.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system usespointers to associate each of a plurality of links between the entry andthe user and the piece of content.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein areceived comment comprises at least one rubric identifier indicating alink between the received comment and the corresponding rubric forevaluation of the content.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the atleast one server is configured to generate the entry in the commentdatabase also linked to at least one metric for evaluation of the pieceof content in an evaluation criteria database.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the piece of content comprises at least one of a video file; andan audio file.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first plurality ofcomment comprise a time stamp identifying a portion of the at least oneof the video file; and the audio file, relevant to the first pluralityof comments.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first plurality ofcomments comprises a comment body comprising a text string generated viauser input.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server isfurther configured to launch a commenter interface.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the representation of the piece of content is providedto the plurality of users via the commenter interface.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the representation of the piece of content is not adownloaded version of the piece of content, and wherein the storing ofthe first plurality of comments does not change the piece of content.12. The system of claim 10, wherein the piece of content is providedsteaming via the commenter interface.
 13. A method, comprising:providing, by a server comprising a computing device coupled to anetwork and comprising at least one processor executing instructionswithin a memory, a representation of a piece of content to a pluralityof users; receiving, by the server, a first plurality of comments fromthe plurality of users, wherein each comment of the first plurality ofcomments identifies a portion of the piece of content wherein: eachcomment of the first plurality of comments is associated with: the pieceof content, generated by a user input received by an instructor of alearning course, and wherein the piece of content comprises a video oraudio stream associated with the instructor or with the learning course,an instruction or criteria used in evaluating the piece of content, anda corresponding rubric associated with the piece of content, generating,by the server, an entry in a comment database: linked to the pluralityof users and the piece of content comprising the first plurality ofcomments, and comprising a plurality of metadata associating each of thefirst plurality of comments with the learning course or the instructor,and the instruction or criteria; storing, by the server, the firstplurality of comments in the entry in the comment database, andcategorizing, by the server, the first plurality of comments accordingto attributes of the first plurality of comment hat identify theinstructor or the learning course.
 14. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising: receiving a comment request for return of comments, therequest comprising a specified category; identifying, in response to thereceived comment request, at least one comment having the specifiedcategory in the comment database; and providing the identified at leastone comment and the corresponding rubric to the identified at least onecomment to the plurality of users.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein areceived comment comprises at least one rubric identifier indicating alink between the received comment and the corresponding rubric forevaluation of the content and further comprising generating the entry inthe comment database also linked to at least one metric for evaluationof the piece of content in an evaluation criteria database.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the piece of content comprises at least oneof a video file; and an audio file.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe first plurality of comments comprise a time stamp identifying aportion of the at least one of the video file; and the audio file,relevant to the first plurality of comments.
 18. The method of claim 13,wherein the first plurality of comments comprise a comment bodycomprising a text string generated via user input.
 19. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising: launching a commenter interface; andproviding the representation of the piece of content to the user via thecommenter interface.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein therepresentation of the piece of content is not a downloaded version ofthe content and wherein the storing of the first plurality of commentdoes not change the piece of content.